Qass 
Book , ■ 
Copiglitl^^ 




CQEfiUGICr DEPOSm 



A J^^. 




BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

"The Giirdeu's Story, or Pleasures and Trials of 

an Amateur Gardener. ' ' Illustrated by Louis 

Rhead. 
'The Story of My House." With a frontispiece 

by Sidney L. Smith. 
'In Gold and SUver.' Illustrated by A. B. 

Wenzell and W. HamUtou Gibsou. 

'The Rose." By H. B. Ellwanger. Revised edi- 
tion, with an Inti-oduction by George H. 
Ellwanger. 

'IdyUists of the Country Side." With a title- 
page by George ■\\^larton Edwards. 

'Love's Demesne: A Garland of Contemporary 
Love Poems Gathered from Many Sources." 

'Meditations on Gout, with a Consideration of 
its Cure through the Use of Wine." With 
a frontispiece and title-page by George 
Wharton Edwards. 




"A SA TOUTE-PUISSANCE!" 
From the luiinting by Gabriel Jletzu, 1664 



THE 

PLEASURES 

OF THE TABLE 

AN ACCOUNT OF GASTRONOMY 

FROM ANCIENT DAYS TO 

PRESENT TIMES. 



WITH A HISTORY OF ITS LITERATURE. 

SCHOOLS, AND MOST DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS; 

TOGETHER WITH SOME SPECIAL RECIPES, 

AND VIEWS CONCERNING 

THE AESTHETICS OF DINNERS. 

AND DINNER-GIVING. 



BY 

H. ELLWANGER, M. A. 




thTuIrIWyo? 

CONi^RESS, 
Tv«o Cijmto RtOfciveo 

NOV. '-, 1W1? 

CLASS C^'XXc No, 
COPY B. 



to^^ 



^n«A 




Copyright, 1902, by 
DoiiBLEDAY, Page & Co. 




FANTAISIE CXJLINAIRE: LE 

POISSON PRKVOYANT 

By A. Thierry 



' / 



TO HER. 

^(^^(^MlTRUE COMRADE. WHOSEte^^^v 

VERSANT TOUCH AND ART^ 

FUL HAND HAVE KEENED NY 

ZEST FOR GASTRONOMIC LORE. 

THIS VOLUME IS DEVOTEDLY 

INSCRIBED. ^ ^ 



" Gasteria is the Tenth Muse; she presides 
over the enjoj^ments of Taste." 

Brillat-Savarin. 

" The History of Gastronomy is that of 
manners, if not of morals; and the learned 
are aware that its literature is both in- 
structive and amusing; for it is replete 
with curious traits of character and com- 
parative views of society at different pe- 
riods, as well as with striking anecdotes of 
remarkable men and women whose desti- 
nies have been strangely influenced by 
their epicurean tastes and habits." 

Abraham Ha^'avard. 



INTRODUCTORY 

It is fa?' from the purpose or desire of the author to 
add another to the innumerable volumes having prac- 
tical cookery as their theme — the published works of 
the past decade alone being too numerous to digest. 
The following chapters, therefore, though touch- 
ing upon the practical part of the art, will be found 
more closely concerned with the history, literature, 
and {esthetics of the table than with its purely utili- 
tarian side. Indeed, a complete manual of practical 
cookery is one of the impossibilities, for no person 
would have the patience to compile it; and even were 
such a work achievable, few readers could find suf- 
ficient time for its perusal. A glance at the portly 
''Biblio graphic Gastronomique" of Georges Vicaire, 
in which English contributions to the subject are so 
meagrely represented, will suffice to show the difficul- 
ties such a task would impose. To classify properly 
the multitudinous dishes which, virtually identical, 
figure under so many different names, would of itself 
require years of severe application and laborious re- 
search. It may be observed, notwithstanding, that 
the world stands imich less in need of additional in- 
ventions as regards the utilisation and preparation of 
foods than of an expert anthologist to garner the 
most worthy among recipes already exist ing in such 
bewildering profusion. 



INTRODUCTORY 

In the succeeding pages the writer has drawn from 
many sources, both ancient and modern — wherever an 
anecdote whidi is not too familiar has been found 
amusing, or an observation has been deemed pertinent 
or instructive. An occasional recipe has been given, 
and the sweet tooth of femi?iinity has not been neg- 
lected. The hygiene of the table has likewise been 
considered, and some pernicious customs in connec- 
tion with dining have been plainly dealt with. There 
are also some allusions to wines with respect to their 
complementary dishes, although wine is so important 
a subject as to call for a volume by itself. 

It has not been deemed advisable to pass the cook- 
ery of the entire globe under review, even in a cur- 
sory manner. To devote separate chapters to Scan- 
dinavian, South American, and Oriental dishes, or 
even to purely Spanish, Mexican, and Russian food 
p>reparations, were both needless and cumbersome. 
The best have been embodied in the cosmopolitan 
kitchen; and the rest, for the most part, require the at- 
mosphere of their native surroundings to be appraised 
at their i)roper value. It is with the French that the 
annalist of the table has chiefly to deal. 

Necessarily, in treating of what Thomas Walker 
has termed ''one of the most iinportant of our tem- 
poral concerns,'''' many gastronomic eirpressions and 
names of dishes, and not a feiv observations relating 
to the table, which would lose their piquancy or pre- 
cise colouring on translation, have been retained in the 
language in which they originally appear. "Les que- 
nelles de levraut saucees d'une espagnolle au fumet," 
''les amourettes de bveuf marinees f rites,'' "'Vepaule 



INTRODUCTORY 

de veau en musette champetre,'' ''un coq vierge en 
petit deuil,'' for example, while natural and compre- 
hensible in French, would sound somewhat bizarre as 
"Forcemeat balls of leverets sauced, with a racy Span- 
ish wo7nan," "the love-affairs of soused beef fried," 
"a shoulder of veal in rural bagpipes," and "a virgin 
rooster in half-mourning." And surely, in reviewing 
the aide-de-camp of the cook, it becomes obligatory to 
employ a French term upon occasion, and equally 
see^nly to address him now arid then in the classic 
tongue of the kitchen. 

The principal meal has chiefly been considered, as 
through this to the greatest cjctent depend the health 
and frame of mind that determine the actions of man 
from day to day. It will, accordingly, be an entree 
compounded of numerous flavourings' or a braise with 
its "bouquet garni" that has simmered gently over the 
smothered charcoal, rather than a fainiliar piece de 
resistance which the reader is invited to partake of 
and discuss at his leisure. 




CHAPTER PAGE 

Introductory xiii 

I Cookery among the Ancients 3 

II With Lucullus and Apicius 24 

III The Renaissance of Cookery 49 

IV Old English Dishes 80 

V L'Almanach des Gourmands 112 

VI A German Speisekarte 145 

VII The School of Savarin 175 

VIII From Careme to Dumas 199 

IX The Cook's Confrere 229 

X American vs. English Cookery 248 

XI At Table with the Clergy 280 

XII Sundry Guides to Good Cheer 315 

XIII Of Sauces 344 

XIV The Spoils of the Cover 354 

XV Two Esculents Par Excellence 383 

XVI Sallets and Salads 409 

XVII Sweets to the Sweet 428 

Bibliography 447 

Index 469 




" A Sa Toute-Puissance ! " Frontispiece 

From the painting by Gabriel Metzu, 1664 

PAGE 

Fantaisie culiiiaire : le poisson pr6voyant iv 

By A. Thierry 

Le Cuisiiiier xi 

After the engraving by Mariette 

PACING PAGE 

A Bacchante 3 

From the stipple engraving in colours by Bartolozzi, after Cipriani 

Portrait du Gourmand 24 

After Carle Vernet 

Le Livre de Taillevent 49 

Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1545 

The Cries of Paris: '^ Old clothes, old laces!" .... 69 

Facsimile of an old French plate 

First of September 80 

From the engraving after A. Cooper, R. A. 

The English Housewife 94 

Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1675 

"Un Viel Amateur " 112 

A. B. L. Grimod de la Reyniere, ne a Paris le 20 9bre, 1756. From 
an old print 



ll.LUSTKxVTlONS 

FACING PAGE 

Le Premier Devoir (run Amphitryon 121 

Frontispiece of the fifth year of the " Almauach des Gourmands " 

Les Meditations d'un Gourmand 132 

Frontispiece of the fourth year of the " Almanach des Gourmands " 

The Chef 145 

From a print after an old Dutch master 

The Bird of St. Michael 160 

From the etching by Birket Foster, R. A. 

Promenade Nutritive 175 

Frontispiece of " Le Gastronome Francais " (1828) 

" Pour voir de bons refrains colore, Buvons encore ! " . 186 

Frontispiece of " Le Caveau Moderne" (1807) 

Alexandre Dumas 199 

From the etching by Rajon 

"L'Art du Cuisinier" (Beauvilliers') 213 

Facsimile of title-page, 1824, Vol. II 

Day's Closing Hour 229 

From the etching by Charles Jacque 

" First Catch Your Hare !" 248 

From the engraving by J. W. Snow 

" Eoti-Cochon " 261' 

Facsimile page from volume, 1696 

Non in Solo Pane Vivit Homo 280 

From the original oil-painting by Klein 

LaConte- -.^ ri^ v ^ -^-^ 296 

Facb ,ine-page (early part of sixteenth century) 

" Enfant, tu ne dois charger 
Tant de la premiere viande 
Se plusieurs en as en commande 
Que d'austres nepuisses menger." 

Promenade du Gourmand 315 

Frontispiece of "Le IVJanuel du Gastronome ou Nouvel Almanach 
des Gourmands " (1830) 

La Table 331 

Frontispiece of the Second Canto of ''La Conversation" of the 
AbbI Delille, 1822 

A Supper in the Eighteenth Century 344 

From the engraving after Masquelier 

The Spanish Pointer 354 

From the engraving by WooUett, after the painting by Stubbs, 1768 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PACK 

Partridge Shooting. I, La Chasse aux Perdrix . . . 364 

From the coloured print after Howitt, 180" 

Partridge Shooting— September 375 

From the coloured engraving by Reeve, after the painting by R. B. 
Davis, 1836 

Truffle-hunting in the Dauphine 383 

From the Salon picture after Paul Vayson 

" Nouvel Manuel Complet du Cuisinier et de la 

Cuisiniere" 397 

Facsimile of frontispiece, 1832 

The "Wounded Snipe 409 

From the engraving after A. Cooper, R.A. 

" Apres Bon Vin " 428 

From the engraving by Eisen in the Fermiers-G6n4reaux edition 
of the "Contes et Nouvelles '" (1762) 

Le P^tissier Frangais , 442 

Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1655 




after Cip 



LE CUISINIER 
After the engraving by Mariette 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 




COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 



"L'ai't qui coutieut toutes les elegances, toutes les courtoisies, sans 
lesqnelles toutes les autres sont inutiles et perdus; I'art hospitaller par 
excellence qui emploie avec un egal succes tous les produits les plus 
excellents de I'air, des eaux, de la ten'e." — Fayot. 



COOKERY is naturally the most ancient of the 
arts, as of all arts it is the most important. 
Whether one should live to eat, is a question con- 
cerning which the epicure and the ascetic will hold 
widely varying opinions; but that one must eat to 
live, will scarcely admit of controversy. The man 
who is wise in his generation will be inclined to choose 
a happy medium. Or perchance the French axiom 
that we only eat to live when we do not understand 
how to live to eat, may somewhat simplify the mat- 
ter. As it is largely through food and drink that man 



THE PLE2VSURES OF THE TABLE 

derives his highest mental efficiency and physical 
well-being, as equally through improper diet accrue 
countless bodily disorders, it would appear that the 
proper choice and preparation of aliments and the 
selection of beverages should receive the profound 
consideration of every one. 

In few of the arts has progress been more apparent 
during modern times. The mechanic has improved 
its accessories until the utmost perfection would seem 
to have been attained, medicine and chemistry have 
endeavoured to determine what elements of our daily 
dietary are injurious to certain individuals or to all, 
volume after volume has been written upon the sub- 
ject, while the grand army of cooks has been busy in 
inventing new combinations or in resurrecting for- 
gotten recipes. 

And yet the digestive ills of humanity have con- 
tinued to multiply, even though there are over six- 
score ways presented by a single author of serv- 
ing the rabbit, and a competent priest of the range 
can utilise the egg in hundreds of different forms. 
Is it that with greater variety in our aliments, a 
greater number of ailments is a necessary sequence, 
and that as mankind increases in culinary knowledge 
digestion decreases in power? It is an olden adage 
that too many cooks spoil the broth; and it may be 
worthy of consideration whether a superfluity of 
dishes is not responsible to a considerable degree for 
the furtherance of various stomachic maladies. Or, 
on the other hand, is it that with the trebled facilities 
of locomotion supplied by modern science, and the 
closer confinement of indoor pursuits, the cause may 




A BACCHANTE 
From the stipple engraving in colours by Bartolozzi, after Cipriani 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

be largely ascribed to lack of exercise and insufficient 
oxygenation ? 

However this may be, the art of cookery is far less 
generally understood than its great hygienic impor- 
tance demands, while the art of dining is understood 
only by the relatively few. As M. Fayot observed 
to Jules Janin, "Without doubt, Monsieur, as you 
have often said, ^t is difficult to write well, but 
it is a hundred times more difficult to know how to 
dine well." Or, as Dumas has expressed it, "To eat 
understandingly and to drink understandingly are 
two arts that may not be learned from the day to the 
morrow." He himself was a striking example of the 
accomplished bon vivant, and his marked intellectual 
superiority over his son may be readily attributed to 
his greater knowledge of dining. 

Where, indeed, more than at the well-appointed 
dinner-table may one echo the sentiment of Seneca, 
"When shall we live if not now?" "An empty stom- 
ach produces an empty brain," observes the author 
of the "Comedie Humaine" ; "our mind, independent 
as it may appear to be, respects the laws of digestion, 
and we may say with as much justice as did La Roche- 
foucauld of the heart, that good thoughts proceed 
from the stomach." It is, however, a source whence 
our joys and sorrows both may spring. Neglect and 
indifference may impair its action to destruction ; but, 
humoured kindly, it ever guides us in paths of peace. 
In a healthy and a hungry state, it yearns for special 
gifts which gustatory edicts demand, and rarely will 
confusion attend them when their bestowal is fla- 
voured with prudence. It is a faithful minister and 
5 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

discriminating guardian, which rebels only when its 
functions are imposed upon; but when they are, its 
resentment is thorough and relentless. Worthy then, 
most certainly, of solicitous regard is the nourishment 
of an organ which may shape our ends for weal or 
woe. 

"Cooker3%" said Yuan ^lei, the Savarin of China 
and author of a scholarly cook-book during the eigh- 
teenth century, "is like matrimonj^ — two things served 
together should match. Clear should go with clear, 
hard with hard, and soft with soft. . . . Into no 
department of life should indifference be allowed 
to creep — into none less than into the domain of 
cookery." 

Concerning the art itself, it may be remarked that 
the French have been to cookery what the Dutch and 
Flemisli schools liave been to painting — cookery with 
the one and painting with the other having attained 
their highest excellence. Rubens, Rembrandt, Teniers, 
Jordaens, Ruysdael, Snyders, Berghem, and Cuyp 
may be paralleled in another branch of art by Careme, 
Vatel, Beauvilliers, Robert, Laguipiere, Very, Fran- 
catelli, and Ude. But, as in painting during its ear- 
lier stages Flanders and the Netherlands owed much 
to the Roman and Venetian scliools, so in cookery the 
French are vastly indebted to their predecessors and 
former masters the Italians, who, if less distinguished 
colourists, were not to be despised as draughtsmen, 
and who if by instinct not as skilled in the chiaroscuro 
of sauces, were most dexterous in creating bread- 
stuffs and pastry. ]Montaigne\s reference to an Ital- 
ian cook of the period will be remembered in this 

6 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

connection — one of the artists who had been em- 
ployed by Cardinal CarafFa who discoursed upon the 
subject in such rich, magnificent words, well-couched 
phrases, oratoric figures, and pathetical metaphors as 
learned men use and employ in speaking of the gov- 
ernment of an empire. 

It is a long stone's throw from the first apple eaten 
in the Garden of Eden — and this was a wild fruit, 
and not a Spitzenberg or a Northern Spy — to a Char- 
treuse a la belle-vue or that trimnph of the ovens of 
Alsace — the pate de foie gras. The first dish of 
which any record exists is the red pottage of lentils 
for which Esau sold his birthright— a form of food 
still very common in Germany and France. The first 
direct mention of breadstuffs in the Bible occurs in 
Genesis, where Abraham tenders the angel a morsel 
of bread, and bids Sarah make ready quickly three 
measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon 
the hearth. 

The primitive tribes and nations were content of 
necessity with the spoils of the chase and the then 
more limited products of the vegetable world; and 
long before John the Baptist's time the Hebrews 
lived to no small extent upon locusts and kindred in- 
sects. In his enumeration of the animal food which 
they might eat without rendering themselves unclean, 
Moses specifies four insects of the locust family ( Lev. 
X, 22) . Some species of the Locusta are yet esteemed 
a delicacy in the East, these being cooked with oil, 
roasted upon wooden spits, baked in ovens, or broiled. 
The Bedouins, who are ever on the march, pack them 
with salt in close masses, carrying them in their 
7 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

leathern sacks. By the Athenians they were usually 
roasted ; and mention is made by Atheneeus of an ar- 
chimagirus, or master cook, who, in his tour around 
the ovens and stock-pots, enjoins one of his subalterns 
to take the utmost precaution with them and see that 
thej^ obtain only a light golden hue. 

Eggs, milk, rice, and honey, onions, succory, leeks, 
and garlic, the leaves of the vine, radishes, and car- 
rots, with other growths of the garden, formed the 
staple articles of diet among ancient peoples. Vege- 
table food was more common than animal, the latter 
being served principally in the case of entertainments 
and special occasions of hospitality (Gen. xviii, 7, 8) . 
Instead of lard and butter, olive oil was employed, 
and is still almost entirely employed by the Orientals. 
Fish constituted an important article of diet, together 
with game, lambs, and kids. Though not common, 
the flesh of young bullocks and stall-fed oxen was 
highly prized (Prov. xv, 17; Matt, xxii, 4), the shoul- 
der being considered the choicest part. The master 
of the house was the matador, and upon the mistress 
devolved the preparation of the food. Among primi- 
tive cooks, Rebekah proved herself a performer of 
no mean ability, as instanced by her dressing the flesh 
of a young kid after the manner of venison, in order 
to obtain a fatlier's blessing for her favourite son. 
Roots, berries, fruits, and the quarry of the bow and 
harpoon composed the fare of aboriginal man, and 
proved all-sufficient. When the struggle for physical 
existence called for strong exercise in procuring neces- 
sary food, little variety in nutriment sufficed, at no 
loss of brawn and sinew. 

8 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

With many savage races, bread-fruit, nuts, the 
plantain, the cocoa-pahn — known as the "tree of life" 
— with numerous other food-yielding palms, served 
as a principal means of subsistence. The first fruit- 
tree cultivated by man is said by all the most ancient 
writers to be the fig, the vine being next in order. 
The almond and pomegranate were cultivated at an 
early date in Canaan, and the fig, grape, pomegran- 
ate, and melon were known to Egypt from time im- 
memorial. In Solon's laws, the olive, the fig, and the 
vine are enumerated, as also the cabbage, crambe, or 
sea-kale, pulse of various kinds, and onions. Cab- 
bage and asparagus were known to the Greeks from 
the earliest ages, and by them the chestnut, largely 
utilised for food, was termed the "Oak of Jupiter." 
The original home of wheat and barley is supposed 
to be Mesopotamia and the fertile plains of the 
Euphrates, whence, after a period of cultivation, 
they spread eastward to China and westward to Syria 
and thence to Europe. Among other food-stufFs of 
the inhabitants were onions, vetches, kidney-beans, 
egg-plants, pumpkins, lentils, cucumbers, chick-peas, 
.and beans — with such fruits as the apple, fig, apricot, 
pistachio, almond, walnut, and the product of the 
palm and vine. 

Coffee, of very remote use in Abyssinia, was un- 
known to the early Greeks and Romans; they were, 
however, familiar with the cucumber, cultivated in 
India for at least three thousand years. The cucum- 
ber was also known to Moses and the Israelites, the 
patriarch referring to fish and cucumbers, melons and 
leeks, as among the delicacies that were freely eaten 
9 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

in Egypt (Numbers xi, 5). Various kinds of Cicho- 
rium, or chicory, were familiar to antiquity, while 
Lactuca, or lettuce, was extensively grown as a salad. 
The onion was a favourite with the ancient Egyp- 
tians, garlic likewise being made much use of — a plant 
denounced by their priests as unclean.^ 

Baking in ovens is of great antiquity, the ovens of 
old Egypt being frequently represented in contem- 
porary paintings. The table appointments of Egypt 
are similarly j)ortrayed in her paintings — the guests 
of both sexes seated in gala attire, with jewelled fin- 
gers holding the lily of the Nile or sacred lotus, while 
slaves, naked except for necklace and girdle, served 
them with viands and wines. Differing from the 
Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans excluded women 
from their feasts, agreeing with the sentiment of Ful- 
bcrt Dumonteil that for a true gourmand there exist 
no blue eyes, white teeth, or rosy lips that may take 
the place of a black truffle. The only exception re- 
lated to the cup-bearers — fair youths and tender 
maids — who were enjoined to refuse nothing to the 
guests, and the richly and gorgeously arrayed he- 
tcerce, the voluptuous Aspasias, Barines, and Phrynes 
of the period, who made their appearance at the con- 
clusion of the repast. 

With a corps of twelve stewards to provide for his 
table, eleven of whom were constantly travelling in 
search of viands and wines, it is reasonable to assume 

^ That the onion, garlic, and rad- ing that a sum amounting to sixteen 

ish were held in particular esteem hundred talents had been paid out 

is attested by Herodotus, who says in for these three forms of food, which 

his time (450 b.c.) there was an in- had been consumed by the workmen 

scription on the Great Pyramid, stat- during the progress of its erection. 

10 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

that Solomon, of whose menus so little record exists, 
scarcely confined himself to coarse dishes prepared 
from the flesli of "bullocks, sheep, harts, and roe- 
bucks," but that he, with his thousand wives and con- 
cubines, observed a sufficient variety and luxury in his 
kitclien to correspond with the magnificent table ap- 
pointments and sumptuous surroundings chronicled 
in the book of Kings. For ruthless extravagance, 
Cleopatra's dish of a melted pearl, weighing seventy- 
four carats and valued at six million sesterces, prob- 
ably exceeds that of any single plate of the Egyptian 
rulers or prodigal Roman potentates. Horace, in the 
third satire of the Second Book, makes mention of 
the spendthrift son of ^sopus as also dissolving a 
pearl in vinegar — his mistress's earring — 

". . . to. say he 'd quaffed 
A cool five thousand at a draught." 

Boiling was another primitive mode of cooking; 
and the method even yet practised by barbarians is to 
utilise the hide of the slaughtered animal for a bag, 
placing the meat in this receptacle with water, and 
dropping in stones heated to a white heat until the 
flesh is cooked. Laying the meat on hot stones and 
covering it with ashes, or hanging it upon a tripod 
of sticks over the flames, was the mode of roasting 
and broiling of the aborigines, with whom utensils 
of pottery and metal were unknown — a method often 
resorted to by woodsmen at the present time. 

The Persians were first to set an example of 
luxurious cookery, at least as it was understood in an- 
il 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

cient times — the favourable climate and fertility of 
their products, as well as their natural inclination to 
ease, all tending to foster a love for the pleasures of 
the table. The oldest books of whicli we have any 
knowledge refer to their pomp in banqueting, and 
portray the brilliant revels of the Oriental kings. 

Thousands of years before Henrion de Pensey pro- 
nounced his famous aphorism, a novel culinary prepa- 
ration was regarded as of vaster importance than a 
new celestial visitant. The saturnalia of Darius and 
Xerxes, the powerful Persian despots, are notorious 
in history, as are also the feasts of Nebuchadnezzar, 
King of Chaldea, and those of Belshazzar, the final 
ruler of corrupt Babylon who feted and feasted a 
thousand of his lords, his wives, and his concubines. 
Anticipating the munificence of the Roman empe- 
rors, Sardanapalus, last of the Assyrian kings, offered 
a guerdon of a thousand pieces of gold to him who 
would produce a new dish. "Eat, drink, amuse thy- 
self: all else is vanity," was his maxim, and the pre- 
cept he desired to have engraven on his tomb. 

The book of Esther records the magnificent royal 
feast at Shushan given in the third j^ear of his reign 
by the Persian king Aliasuerus: a carnival which 
lasted an hundred and fourscore days — where the 
beds were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red 
and blue and white and black marble; where were 
white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords 
of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of 
marble; and where the people were given to drink, in 
vessels of gold, of royal wine in abundance, according 
to tlie state of the king. From the land of Zoroaster, 

12 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

therefore, the Greeks received their first lessons in 
gastronomy. 

Simplicity in their habits was a characteristic of 
the early Greeks, this simplicity extending in a 
marked degree to their cookery, when the famous 
Spartan black broth, composed of pork-broth, vine- 
gar, and salt, became a national dish. But this epoch 
of abstention was of comparatively short duration. 
The spiritual sense was overcome by the carnal, and, 
imitating the Arians, they soon converted a natural 
craving into a hypersensusus pleasure. 

The dinner or supper oc^^eloped into an elaborate 
banquet, partaken of on reclining couches, accompa- 
nied by wines of Corinth, Samos, Chios, and Tenedos, 
the fumes of incense, the strains of music, and the 
singing of pages and beautiful maids. The couches 
on which they partook of their repasts and offered 
their generous libations to the gods were ornamented 
with tortoise-shell, ivory, and bronze, some being in- 
laid with pearls and precious stones; the mattresses 
were of purple embroidered with gold. Then Arches- 
tratus, the Sja-acusan, who had travelled far and wide 
in quest of alimentary dainties of different lands, was 
the Careme of the Attic cuisine. His much-lauded 
poem on "Gastronomy" is unfortunately lost to pos- 
terity, and thus it may not be compared with that of 
Berchoux, composed twenty centuries later. This 
poem Athena3us has termed a treasure of light, every 
verse of which was a precept, and from which numer- 
ous cooks drew the principles of an art that rendered 
them illustrious. The cook in the "Thesmophorus" of 
Dionysius, however, denounces Archestratus, his rules, 
13 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

and his maxims. But cooks are notoriously jealous 
and prone to asperse their rivals, just as a jealous 
woman will decry another member of her sex whom 
men admire. His aspersions, therefore, are not to be 
weighed against the avalanche of encomiums that Ar- 
chestratus has received. It was to the select few who 
aj^preciated the delicacies and importance of his art 
that his poem was addressed. He spoke with author- 
ity, and not as the scribes. Witness his stately open- 
ing stanza, one of the few surviving fragments of his 
epic : 

"I write these precepts for immortal Greece, 
That ^ound a table delicately spread, 
Or three, or four, may sit in choice repast, 
Or five at most. Who otherwise shall dine 
Are like a troop marauding for their prey." 

Mithsecus, another famous Hellenic guide to epi- 
curean delights, wrote a book entitled "The Sicilian 
Cook," which has been mentioned by Plato; but this 
was written in prose, and was the product of a former 
native of Sicily, whence Greece was largely accus- 
tomed to draw her supply of cidinary masters. 
Among the most distinguished of Sicilian craftsmen 
was Trimalchio, whose cunning is said to have been 
so great that when he could not procure scarce and 
much coveted fish he could counterfeit their form and 
flavour so deftly as to deceive even Neptune himself. 

The cook of Nicomedes, King of the Babylonians, 
was accustomed to serve him with anchovies, made in 
imitation of the real fish, at such times as his majesty 
expressed a desire for anchovies on a sea voyage. A 

14 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

turnip, disguised by oil, salt, poppy-seed, and other 
seasonings, was the basis of the p/af, the king, as 
Euphron, the comic writer, records, smacking his lips 
over the dish and saying that cooks were equally as 
useful as poets, and even more skilful. That, with 
the aid of olives, salt pork, onion, parsley, condiments, 
and stuffing, with veal as the medium, an accom- 
plished cook can prepare a fair semblance to an over- 
done quail is proverbial. But how a turnip can be 
made to counterfeit anchovies is not so apparent. The 
celebrated repasts of Socrates, at which the guests 
were seated on chairs, were an exception to the luxury 
of the ti»^ies ; these entertainments were extremly fru- 
gal, the cheer being of an intellectual more than a 
corporeal nature — a mere collation, 

". . . light and choice, 
Of Attic taste, with wine." 

Epicurus, the Athenian who flourished three hun- 
dred 3^ears before the Christian era, is wrongly sup- 
posed by many to have been one of the dediti ventri 
— a slave to appetite and living only for epicurean 
pleasure: a supposition that his name naturally im- 
plies. But it should be recollected that in proposing 
pleasure or happiness as the supreme good, he quali- 
fied this doctrine by the maxim that temperance is 
necessary in order to enjoy the noble and durable 
pleasures which are proper to human nature. 

However varied the fare and splendid the apjioint- 
ments, the position of the ancients at table — resting 
on their left elbows and reclining on couches as the 
15 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

gnomon and clepsydra noiselessly marked the lapse 
of the hours — must have been not only irksome, but 
one greatly furthering stomachic maladies. Besides, 
it must be borne in mind that the ancients ate with 
their fingers, while the use of emetics, first in vogu 
among the Egyptians, and later on among the Ro- 
mans in order to forefend satiety and enable them to 
prolong their saturnalia, was extremely common. 
The ten books of Athenteus give us a complete manual 
of olden Greek cookery, and Herodotus, Plutarch, 
and other authors, if not as exhaustive, are most fer- 
tile in references to the subject. Plato, who de- 
nounced epicureanism and preferred olives to all other 
kinds of food, often making his meal from them 
alone, nevertheless praises Attic pastry, and extols 
the baker Thearion, who was noted for the perfection 
of his bread. 

Besides beef and mutton, kids, the domestic swine, 
fowls, the wild boar, the roebuck, hares, rabbits, and 
numerous game and song birds, the Greeks were espe- 
cially fond of the peacock, served in all his panoply 
of plumage. 

As the Romans considered the mullet the king of 
fish, so the Greeks regarded the sole as the piscis no- 
hilis. They were served then, as now, fried, when 
their size admitted, and likewise were prepared with 
a savoury sauce under the name of citharus, — 

"Tlie cook produced an ample dish 
Of frizzled soles, those best of fish, 
Embrowned, and wafting through the room, 
All sputtering still, a rich perfume." 

16 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

Suckling pig was considered a signal delicacy, its 
charms no doubt having been set forth in melodious 
measures in the lost poem of Archestratus. Indeed, 
-'^ho knows but that the sportive grace of the "Disser- 
tation uj^on Roast Pig" may, after all, be Grecian 
rather than Anglo-Saxon in essence, and be merely 
an inspiration caught from some forgotten Attic au- 
thor? The sea, on its part, yielded its infinite treas- 
ures, including the oyster, the earth contributing its 
varied fruits and esculents. Strong and sweet wine 
was a common beverage, both mixed, unmixed, 
spiced, and scented. 

After fish and game, pork was the most esteemed 
food set upon the salvers of ancient Greece and Rome 
— a food in which epicures believed themselves to have 
discovered fifty different flavours, or fifty parts, each 
possessing an individual taste. At large entertain- 
ments, and even where the guests were only equal in 
number to the JNIuses, it was customary to serve pigs 
roasted whole, stuffed with sausages and bursting 
with houdins, or "black pudding." The pig was 
salted by the ancients in order to preserve it ; but Api- 
cius recommended, for keeping purposes, that me- 
dium-sized pieces of pork be chosen and covered with 
a paste composed of salt, vinegar, and honey, and be 
stored in carefully closed vessels. 

Of ancient recipes, Apicius and Athen^eus present 
a vast array. Soyer also, in his aspiring, cumber- 
some, and learned "Pantropheon," affords convenient 
access to the mysteries of the Greek and Roman 
kitchens. But the only way to pass intelligently upon 
the cookery of the ancients would be to try it. It is 
17 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

true that we do not possess their marvellous digestive 
powers ere their vigour became impaired by centuries 
of unbridled luxury. To young and vigorous stom- 
aclis it is possible that, if accompanied by the appro- 
priate wines, some of their dishes, executed by a skil- 
ful chef who would exercise extreme caution as re- 
gards the use of cmimiin, rue, coriander, and boiled 
grapes, might prove an agreeable surprise party at 
a dinner a la Grecque or a la Bomaine. So light a 
touch and so discriminating a palate, however, are 
necessary in emj^loying certain herbs and spices; so 
much, moreover, depends upon knowing the precise 
moment when an entree or a ragout has received its 
just caress from the flames, that only an artist of the 
foremost rank would be able to reproduce some of 
these dishes with success. 

Two especially prized dishes were those termed 
myina and mattya — the one composed of all kinds of 
finely minced viands and fowls, seasoned with vine- 
gar, cheese, onions, honey, raisins, and various spices; 
the other a fowl boiled with a great variety of herbs. 
"Boil a fat hen and some young cocks just beginning 
to crow, with some vinegar added to the water, and 
in summer with sour grapes in place of the vinegar, 
then remove the herbs from the vessel in which they 
are cooked and serve portions of the fowls on the 
herbs, if you wish to make a dish worthy to be eaten 
with your wine," enjoins Artimidor in his treatise of 
cooking. Finally, AthenfEus, in the "Banquet of the 
Learned," has the scholarly host Laurentius give his 
recipe for what he terms the "Dish of Roses," pre- 
pared, he states, in such a way that you may not only 

18 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

have the ornament of a garland on your head, but also 
in yourself. 

" 'Having pounded a quantity of the most fragrant roses 
in a mortar,' says Laurentius, 'I put in the brains of birds 
and pigs boiled and thoroughly cleansed of all the sinews, and 
also the yolks of eggs, and with them oil, and pickle-juice, 
and pepper and wine. And having pounded all these things 
carefully together, I put them into a new dish, applying a 
gentle and steady fire to them.' And while saying this he un- 
covered the dish, and diffused such a sweet perfume over the 
whole party that one of the guests present said with great 
truth : 

'The winds perfumed, the balmy gale, convey 
Through heav'n, through earth, and all the aerial way' — 

so excessive was the fragrance which was diffused from the 
roses." 

Truly a noble pot-pourri — meet for the gods of 
high Olympus. The pickle- juice, the pepper, and 
the wine denote the address of a master in disguis- 
ing any possible taint of the pen, while the yolks 
of eggs and the oil would necessarily blend and assimi- 
late with the attar of the rose-leaves. Thus does a 
great architect plan the construction of a cathedral, 
or a wizard of the brush adjust his pigments upon a 
canvas that is destined to become immortal. 

The early Greeks had four meals daily — the break- 
fast, or acratisma; the dinner, ariston or deipnon; the 
relish, hesperisma; and the supper, dorpe. As luxury 
and cookery advanced, luncheon took the place of the 
midday dinner, the latter, among the wealthier classes, 
gradually being postponed to a later hour. At all 
19 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TAEEE 

great feasts and dinners of ceremony, which it was 
customary to hold in the evening, the bill of fare was 
presented to the guests, and huge chalices were of- 
fered them to quaff from. 

The frequent and detailed references by the old 
Greek dramatists, poets and writers to eating, drink- 
ing and banqueting, and to the various products em- 
ployed as food, make it apparent to what an extent 
gratification of appetite and feasting prevailed. 

The reader who would penetrate further into the 
mysteries of Grecian cookery may be referred with 
advantage to Homer's repast of Ulysses at the home 
of Eumffus, Athenasus's "Marriage of Caranus," and 
Barthelemy's "Feast of Dinias." But Homer's fare 
which he allowed his heroes was, with few exceptions, 
extremely simple. Although he mentions many kinds 
of wine, lie praises moderation, and never represents 
either fish or game as being put upon the table, but 
"viands of simple kind and wholesome sort," such as 
were calculated to render man vigorous in body and 
mind, the meat being all roasted and chiefly beef. 

Athen^eus, in particular, presents the Greek and 
Oriental kitchens in all their aspects, and, with his 
marvellous erudition, proves himself a very Burton 
of gastronomy — the most accomplished JNIaster of 
Feasts that antiquity has produced. To turn the pages 
of the "Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned" 
is to enter a larder of which he only holds the key. 
Thus he introduces Damoxenus, the old Greek comic 
writer, wlio picturesquely portrays a master cook of 
the period, superintending his saucepans and direct- 
ing the preparation of the feast : 

20 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

"I never enter in my kitchen, I ! 
But sit apart, and in the cool, direct. 
Observant of what passes, — scullions toil. 

I guide the mighty whole, 
Explore the causes, prophesy the dish. 
'T is thus I speak : 'Leave, leave that ponderous ham ; 
Keep up the fire, and lively play the flame 
Beneath those lobster patties ;' 'Patient here, 
Fix't as a statue, skim, incessant skim.' 
'Steep well this small gloc'iscus in its sauce, 
And boil that sea-dog in a cullender.' 
'This eel requires more salt and marjoram;' 
'Roast well that piece of kid on either side 
Equal ;' 'That sweetbread boil not over much.' 
'T is thus, my friend, I make the concert play. 

And then no useless dish my table crowds. 
Harmonious ranged, and consonantly just. 
As in a concert instruments resound, 
My ordered dishes in their courses chime." 

The ideal cook is depicted with equal picturesque- 
ness in a lengthy tribute by Dionysius wherein he 
thus sums up his qualifications, — 

"Know on thyself thy genius must depend. 
All books of cookery, all helps of art, 
All critic learning, all commenting notes, 
Are vain, if void of genius thou wouldst cook !" 

Cratinus, in his play of the "Giants," extols the 
merits of Sicilian cookery: 

"Consider now how sweet the earth doth smell, 
How fragrantly the smoke ascends to heaven : 

21 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

There lives, I fanc}^, here within this cave, 
Some perfume-seller, or Sicilian cook." 

And Hegesander, in his "Brothers," presents an 
archiniagirus, proud as Lucifer, who sings his own 
praises in the following grandiloquent strain : 

"When I am call'd to serve a funeral supper, 
The mourners just return'd, silent and sad. 
Clothed in funereal habits — I but raise 
The cover of my pot, and every face 
Assumes a smile, the tears are wash'd away. 
Charm'd with the grateful flavour, they believe 
They are invited to a wedding-feast. 

Let me but have the necessary means, 
A kitchen amply stored, and you shall see 
That like enchantment I will spread around 
A charm as powerful as the siren's voice. 

You know not yet 
The worth of him you speak to — look on those 
Whom you see seated round, not one of them 
But would his fortune risk to make me his." 

Philemon, in turn, the witty Athenian bard, repre- 
sents a cook as pluming himself upon his cunning, 
and saying: 

"Those who arc dead alread}^ when they 've smelled 
One of my dishes, come to life again." 

Anthip])us, too, presents a graduate of the range 
who was no less proficient in the resources of his art, 



COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS 

and who devised his dishes according to the age of 
those who were to partake of them, — 

"Insensible the palate of old age, 
More difficult than the soft lips of youth 
To move, I put much mustard in their dish ; 
With quickening sauces make their stupor keen, 
And lash the lazy blood that creeps within." 

Nor does Athensus fail to depict a glutton of the 
period, transcribed from Pherecrates: 

"a. I scarcely in one day, unless I 'm forced. 
Can eat two bushels and a half of food. 

B. A most unhappy man ! how have 3'ou lost 
Your appetite, so as now to be content 
With the scant rations of one ship of war.'"' 

Milo of Crotona, Titormus the ^tolian, and As- 
tydamas the Milesian were still more celebrated; and 
even Ulysses in his old age is represented by Homer 
as eating "endless dishes" and quaffing "unceasing 
cups of wine." Gargantua and Pantagruel evidently 
existed long before the days of Rabelais, and time 
will run back to fetch the age of gluttony, as well as 
that of gold. 




23 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 



'Wliether woodcock or partridge, what does it signify, if the taste is the 
same ? But the partridge is dearer, and therefore thought prefer- 
able."— Martial, Epigrams, xiii, 70. 



PASSING from Greece to Italy, we find frugal- 
ity to have been a prominent trait of the early 
Romans, and porridge to have been the national 
dish until wheaten bread was introduced from Ath- 
ens. Like the Greeks, who received their initial les- 
sons from the Persians, the Romans derived their 
knowledge of cookery from Attica, whence they 
imported their first masters. The Romans proved 
apt scholars, and soon outrivalled their instructors in 
the pleasures of the table, where the pomp, luxury, 
and licentiousness of the times were carried to their 
furthest limit. It is indeed well nigh impossible to 
conceive the splendour, prodigality, and sensuality 

24 




PORTRAIT I)U GOURMAND 
After Carle Vernot 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

that prevailed during the RepubHc and the EfHipire, 
when fabulous revenues were squandered at a single 
feast, and gluttony and intemperance were the gods 
of the hour. 

It was towards the decline of the Republic, during 
the period of Pompey the Great, Caesar, and Lucul- 
lus, that, dispensing with the culinary preceptors of 
Greece, the Roman cuisine attained its greatest ce- 
lebrity. 

For it was at this period that the great ravagers of 
the world, who were to carry the name and arms of 
Rome into distant lands, brought their cooks with 
them, who vied with one another in contributing the 
most appetising dishes of various countries. It was 
then when Antony, intoxicated with the sj)oils of con- 
quest and more than usually pleased with the artist 
of his kitchen, sent for him at the dessert and pre- 
sented him with a city of thirty-five thousand inhabi- 
tants — an example followed in a minor way by Henry 
VIII of England, who rewarded his cook for having 
composed a pudding of especial merit by the gift of 
a manor. It was then that the Sybarites bestowed 
public recompense and marks of distinction upon 
those who gave the most magnificent banquets, and 
especially upon those who invented new dishes.^ It 
was then that the practised epicure professed to dis- 
tinguisli by the taste from what locality of Italy a 

1 The world has scarcely been as lib- talent by Henry III, and presented 

eral to literature as to gastronomy; besides with an abbey worth an an- 

althoujyh the graceful French poet, nualrentalof ten thousand crowns for 

the Abb^ Philippe Desportes, who having- written a sonnet which capti- 

so celebrated his mistresses Diane, vated the Due de Joyeuse, brother- 

Hypolite and Cleonice in verse, was in-law of the king, 
munificently rewarded for his lyrical 

25 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

wild boar had been procured, or whether a pike had 
been caught in the lower or upper Tiber. Thus Hor- 
ace, in one of the "Satires": 

"But say by what Discernment are you taught 
To know that this voracious Pike was caught 
Where the full River's lenient Waters glide, 
Or where the Bridges break the rapid Tide : 
In the mid-Ocean, or where Tiber pays 
With broader Course his Tribute to the Seas." ^ 

It was then that the rich Romans had at their villas 
magnificent inscince filled with fresh- and salt-water 
fishes that might be netted at a moment's notice to set 
before their guests. In his ode "On the Prevailing 
Luxury," the Venusian bard also alludes to these 
vivaria and the inordinate fondness for fish of the 
Romans : 

"Soon regal piles each rood of Ijjnd 

Will from the farmer's ploughshare take. 
Soon ponds be seen on every hand 

More spacious than the Lucrine lake." ^ 

The mansions of the wealthy were likewise provided 
with splendid aviaries filled with thrushes that were 
fed with millet and crushed figs mixed with wheaten 
flour. Cygnets and snow-white geese were held in 
great repute, and when fattened upon green figs their 
livers were highly prized. 

Hortensius the consul was among the first to main- 
tain salt-water ponds stocked with liis favourite fish, 



^ Rev. Philip Francis' transl. 
^ Sir Theodore Martin's transl. 



26 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

the red mullet of the jNlediterranean. He was also 
the introducer of the peacock served in its feathers, a 
dish extremely popular during the Republic. Hor- 
ace proved a better judge than his many moneyed 
hosts, and chose the chicken in preference, asserting 
that it was the costliness of the bird of Juno and the 
glory of liis glittering train more than the quality of 
the flesh that were prized. Artificial oyster-beds, ac- 
cording to Pliny, were first formed at Baiie by Ser- 
gius Orata, a contemi^orary of Crassus the orator, 
not for the gratification of gluttony, but as a specu- 
lation from which he derived a large income. He 
too was the first to adjudge the preeminence for deli- 
cacy of flavour to the oysters of Lake Lucrinus. Pre- 
serves were subsequently formed by others for mu- 
rense, sea-snails, and numerous saline delicacies. 

Like the Hellenes, the Romans had three meals — 
the breakfast {jentaculinn) , the luncheon [pran- 
dium) , and the dinner {cena) . Originally, as has been 
the case with all peoples, the dinner was held in the 
morning, but with the progress of luxury and owing 
to the greater convenience to men of affairs, it became 
gradually deferred to late afternoon or evening. 
Nine was the favourite number of guests at the cena. 
It was a custom borrowed from the Greeks to ap- 
point a king or dictator of the feast, who prescribed 
its laws, which the guests were bound, under penal- 
ties, to obe}^ By him the quantity of the cups to be 
drunk was decided, ten bumpers being the usual al- 
lowance — nine in honour of the INIuses, and one to 
Apollo. Similar to the Grecian custom, every man 
who had a mistress was compelled to toast her when 
27. 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

called upon. To this a penalty was sometimes at- 
tached, in whicli case the challenger was obliged to 
empty a cup to each letter of the lady's name. When 
the gallant had reasons for secrecy, he merely an- 
nounced the number of cups which had to be drunk. 

The place of tobacco was taken by perfumes at 
feasts, a practice carried by the Romans to great ex- 
cess. Nard and other perfumes in use being ex- 
tremely costly, Horace insists upon Virgil contribut- 
ing them when he comes to dine in the vale of Ustica. 
Catullus, also, who asks his friend Fabullus to dinner, 
agrees to supply the perfumes, providing Fabullus 
bring with him all the other requisites. The spiciness 
of the essences doubtless spurred the appetite, and 
tended to produce a pleasant languor.^ 

Very numerous plants and herbs were employed as 
flavourings in the kitchens of the ancients, such as 
dill, anise-seed, hyssop, thyme, pennyroyal, rue, cum- 
min, poppy-seed, shallots, and, naturally, onions, gar- 
lic, and leeks — savoury then taking the place of 
parsley, which, though known, was used more as a dec- 
oration and worn by guests as an adornment. Cum- 
min was largely utilised for seasoning. Sorrel was 
cultivated by the Romans to increase its size, and, 
according to Apicius, was eaten stewed with mustard 
and seasoned with oil and vinegar. The carrot was 
stewed, boiled with cummin and a little oil, and eaten 
as a salad, with salt, oil, and vinegar. 

^Tobacco.unknown to the ancients, Nicotiana, was derived from that of 

did not come into use among Asiatic John Nicot of Nismes, ambassador 

and European peoples luitil the latter from the Kino- of France to Portugal, 

half of the sixteenth century, or a who procured the first seeds from 

long period after the discovery of a Dutchman who had them from 

America — nearly all its species be- Florida. 



ing of American origin. Its name. 



28 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

Brocoli was an especial favourite with Apicius, the 
most tender parts being boiled, with the addition of 
pepper, chopped onions, cummin and coriander seed 
bruised together, and a little oil and sun-made wine. 
Turnips were boiled and seasoned with rue, cummin, 
and benzoin, pounded in a mortar, adding afterwards 
honey, vinegar, gravy, boiled grapes, and oil. As- 
paragus, which Lamb says inspires gentle thoughts, 
was cultivated with notable care. The finest heads 
were dried, and when wanted were placed in hot water 
and boiled. Lucullus and Apicius ate only those that 
were grown in the environs of Nesis, a city of Cam- 
pania. Beets, mallows, artichokes, and cucumbers 
were greatly relished and elaborately prepared, and 
garlic, extolled by Virgil and decried by Horace, was 
generously used. 

Apicius, in his treatise "De re Culinaria," gives 
numerous recipes for cooking the cabbage — the silken- 
leaved, curled, and hard white varieties. From these 
recipes we at once may judge of his resources, and 
obtain an idea of a master vegetable-cook of the 
period : 

"1 . Take only the most delicate and tender part of the cab- 
bage, which boil, and then pour off the water; season it with 
cummin seed, salt, old wine, oil, pepper, alisander, mint, rue, 
coriander seed, gravy, and oil. 

"2. Prepare the cabbage in the manner just mentioned, and 
make a seasoning of coriander seed, onion, cummin seed, pep- 
per, a small quantity of oil, and wine made of sun raisins. 

"3. When you have boiled the cabbages in water put them 
into a saucepan and stew them with gravy, oil, wine, cummin 
seed, pepper, leeks, and green coriander. 
29 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"4. Add to the preceding ingredients flour of almonds, and 
raisins dried in the sun. 

"5. Prepare them again in the above manner, and cook 
them with green olives." 



To what an extent strange condiments, herbs, and 
other seasonings were employed, as well as to what a 
task the human stomach was subjected, will be ap- 
parent from a recipe, given by the same authority, 
for a thick sauce for a boiled chicken: "Put the fol- 
lowing ingredients into a mortar: anise-seed, dried 
mint, and lazer-root (similar to asafcetida) ; cover 
them with vinegar; add dates; pour in garum, oil, 
and a small quantity of mustard-seeds; reduce all to 
a proper thickness with red wine warmed; and then 
pour this same over your chicken, which should pre- 
viously be boiled in anise-seed water." 

With regard to the olden wines, let us be duly 
grateful for the progress of viniculture, and thankful 
that we may read of them, rather than have to par- 
take of them, to rue the Katzen jammer of the follow- 
ing morning. For if one must have a headache on 
rare occasions as the penalty of dining, it were assur- 
edly less to be deplored if obtained through a grand 
vintage of the Marne or the INIedoc than from a wine 
mixed with sea-water or spices, or old Falernian 
cloyed with honey from Mount Hymettus. By all 
means, if we must drink an excessively sweet wine, 
let it be, at most, a glass of Hermitage paille or ^lus- 
cat Rivesaltes, iced to snow! 

Tlie tables, the plate, and the dinner-service corre- 
sponded with the rarity of the viands and beverages. 

30 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

Cicero's table of lemon-wood cost him two hundred 
thousand sesterces, or over seven thousand dollars. 
Besides being made of the most precious foreign 
woods, veined and spotted to imitate the tiger's and 
the leopard's skin, they were also wrought of ivory, 
silver, bronze, and tortoise-shell. 

The drinking-cups of gold and glass, the nimbus 
and ampulla — crystal chalices, ewers, and flagons in 
which the luxurious were wont to mix myrrh, spike- 
nard, and other perfumes with their wine — were 
equally costly. JNIartial extols a jewelled cup: "See 
how the gold, begemmed with Scythian emeralds, 
glistens! How many fingers does it deprive of jew- 
els!" His lovely description of an exquisitely chased 
wine-cup of gold, received from Instantius Rufus, 
will also be recalled. Again, he praises a gold din- 
ner-service: "Do not dishonour sucli large gold dishes 
with an insignificant mullet ; it ought at least to weigh 
two pounds." "I see," says Seneca, "the shell of the 
tortoise bought for immense sums and ornamented 
with the most elaborate care; I see tables and pieces 
of wood valued at the price of a senator's estate, which 
are all the more precious the more knots the tree has 
been twisted into by disease. I see murrhine-cups, 
for luxury would be too cheap if men did not drink 
to one another out of hollow gems the wine to be 
afterwards thrown up again." In vain Pompey the 
Great and Licinius Crassus strove to check the riot- 
ous table extravagance, which continued despite pre- 
vious and subsequent sumptuary law\s for its sup- 
pression. 

"To-day," says Pliny, "a cook costs as much as a 
31 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

triumph, a fish as much as a cook, and no mortal costs 
more than the slave who knows best how to ruin his 
master." . Fabulous prices were paid for fish, notably 
for the famed red mullet or sea-barbel. Tiberius, who 
was an exce])tion, and was not partial to this fish, on 
being presented with an unusually large specimen, 
weighing four and a lialf pounds, sent it to the market 
to be sold. "I will be greatly surprised," he observed, 
"if the mullet is not purchased by Apicius or Oc- 
tavius." It was borne off in triumph by Octavius, 
who became celebrated for having paid two hundred 
dollars for a fish sold by tlie emperor and that Api- 
cius himself had not secured. 

Seneca also states that the mullet was looked upon 
as tainted unless it expired in the hands of the guests, 
who were provided with glass vessels in which to put 
their fish, in order the better to perceive their changes 
and motions in the last agony betwixt life and death. 
"Look how it reddens!" cries one; "there is no ver- 
milion like it; look at those lateral veins, see how the 
grey brightens upon its head, and now it is at its last 
gasp, it pales and its inanimate body fades to a sin- 
gle hue." "The mullet of the ocean is certainly a 
meritorious fish," observes Baron Brisse, "but how 
greatly superior is that of the jNIediterranean !" 

This greatly valued fish was the European Mulliis 
harhatus, one of the forty or more different species 
of the red mullet, found chiefly in the subtropical 
parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, By far the most 
abundant in the Mediterranean, it is nevertheless not 
uncommon to the coasts of England and Ireland, 
though nowhere does it attain so delicate a flavour as 

32 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

in the Mediterranean. The name is said to have ref- 
erence to the scarlet colour of the sandal or shoe worn 
by the Roman consuls, and in later times by the em- 
perors, which was called mullus. 

Like the ruby, the mullet increased rapidly in 
price when it exceeded the usual size — the largest 
weighing scarcely three or four pounds. Suetonius 
is authority for the statement that this fish was so 
esteemed in his time that tliree large specimens were 
sold for thirty thousand sesterces, or more than a 
thousand dollars, which caused Tiberius to enact 
sumptuarj^ laws and tax the provisions brought to 
market. The red mullet, although much less highly 
thought of than in olden daj'^s, is still in request by 
the modern French epicure. Francatelli cautions that 
it should never be drawn ; it is sufficient to remove the 
gills only, as the liver and trail are considered the 
best part — an opinion held by the Romans. It is pos- 
sible that, owing to this circumstance, it has been 
termed the "sea-woodcock." 

Tlie mullet was served bv the Romans with a sea- 
soning of pepper, rue, onions, dates, and mustard, to 
which was added the flesh of the sea-hedgehog reduced 
to a pulj) and oil. When the priceless liver alone was 
to be eaten by an emperor or a senator, it was cooked 
and then seasoned with pepper, salt, or a little garum, 
some oil was added, and hare's or fowl's liver, and oil 
poured over the whole. 

The turbot was another favourite supplied by the 
sea, and one will remember Martial's panegyric con- 
cerning it: "However great the dish that holds the 
turbot, the turbot is still greater than the dish." 
33 



THE rLKASrUES OF THE TAKLE 

From the foam-fleeced flocks of Proteus many other 
fish with strange names were transferred by the 
wealthy Romans to their vast aquaria — the sargus, 
the harp-fish, the hyca, the synodon, the hespidus, the 
chromis, the calhchthys, 

"The orphus, the sea-grayhng, too, who haunts 
The places where the sea-weed most abounds." 

The huge tunny and sturgeon, the tiny anchovy, and, 
in fact, nearly every denizen of the ocean appeared 
upon the Roman tables in some form. The dolphin 
was a sacred fish, and was left unmolested to pilot 
Triton's car. Even the polypus, sea-urchin, and cut- 
tlefish were held in great esteem. The scaurus or 
char, a species unknown to us, and the murex, an edi- 
ble purple mussel of which the finest flavoured came 
from Raise, were highly prized. Fatted eels were 
considered a great delicacy, and among fresh-water 
species the tench, carj), and pike were the most em- 
ployed. Piscis was the Phryne of the Roman feasts, 
and dolphins, whales, and mermaids appear to be the 
only species that were not consumed. 

According to Juvenal, who relates the story at great 
length, the members of Domitian's cabinet were one 
day suddenly summoned to the Alban Villa, where 
they were obliged to remain in waiting while the em- 
peror gave audience to a fisherman who had brought 
him an unusually large Rhombus, and when they 
were finally admitted they found they had nothing 
to debate about except whether the fish was to be 
minced or cooked in a special dish, there being none 

34 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

of sufficient size in the imperial kitchens. After ma- 
ture deliberation, a special receptacle was decided 
upon, when the audience was dismissed. The turbot 
was served with a sauce piquante. 

Nor were the affluent nobles and business men far 
behind the triumvirs, consuls, and emperors in their 
ruinous manner of living. Autocracy set the pace, 
and her wealthy vassals were not slow to follow. Tri- 
malchio, the moneyed landholder, was accustomed to 
serve a wild boar whole, with a number of live field- 
fares inside, ready to fly out as soon as they were 
given their liberty by Carpus, his professional carver. 
These, as they fluttered about the room, were caught 
by fowlers with reeds tipped with bird-lime. 

The minute account of one of Trimalchio's dinners, 
given by the licentious Latin classicist Petronius Ar- 
biter, descriptive of the viands, beverages, service, and 
table customs of the day, may be advantageously con- 
sulted by those whose powers of digestion are strong 
enough to enable them to consider a representative 
feast during the reign of Nero at the home of this 
ostentatious host. The elaborate first course is de- 
scribed as terminating with the appearance of a ser- 
vant beai'ing a silver skeleton so artfully constructed 
that its joints and backbone turned in all directions; 
when, having cast it several times upon the table and 
causing it to assume various postures, Trimalchio cried 
out, "Of such are we — let us live while we may!" 
The first course finished, the second was presented 
in the form of a large circular tray with the twelve 
signs of the zodiac surrounding it, upon each of which 
the arranger had placed an appropriate dish — on 
35 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Aries, ram's-head pies; on Taurus, a piece of roasted 
beef; on Gemini, kidneys and lamb's fry; on Cancer, 
a crown; on Leo, African figs; on Virgo, a young 
sow's haslet ; on Libra, a pair of scales, in one of which 
were tarts, in the other cheese-cakes; on Scorpio, a 
little sea-fish of the same name ; on Sagittarius, a hare ; 
on Capricorn, a lobster; on Aquarius, a goose; on Pis- 
cis, two mullets, while in the centre spread a green 
turf on which lay a honeycomb. It will be readily 
apparent that the modern French chef does not stand 
alone in his skill of producing a piece-7nontee. Mean- 
while, an Egyptian slave carried bread in a silver 
portable oven, singing a song in praise of wine fla- 
voured with laserpitium. Whereupon four attendants 
came dancing in to the sound of music, and, removing 
the upper part of the tray, there was revealed on a 
second tray beneath stuffed fowls, a sow's paps, and 
in the middle a hare fitted with wings to resemble 
Pegasus. At the several corners stood four figures 
of Marsyas spouting a highly seasoned sauce on a 
school of fish. 

At the third course a very large hog was brought 
in, much larger even than the wild boar that had been 
previously served. This was followed by a young 
calf, boiled whole, w^ith more wine, perfumes, fruits, 
and sweetmeats — thrushes in pastry, stuffed with 
nuts and raisins, and quinces stuck over with prickles 
to resemble sea-urchins. "Only command him," ex- 
claimed the host, "and my cook will make you a fish 
out of a pig's chitterlings, a wood-pigeon out of the 
lard, a turtle-dove out of the gammon, and a hen out 
of the shoulder!" 

36 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

Apparently, the artist of Trimalchio was no less 
fertile in resources and liberal ideas of expenditure 
than the chef of the Prince of Soubise, who, on being 
taken to task by his employer for including fifty hams 
for a single supper, replied: 

"Only one will appear upon the table, monseigneur; 
the rest are not the less necessary for my espagnole, 
my blonds, my garnitures, my — " 

"Bertrand, you are plundering me." 

"Oh, monseigneur," replied the conjurer, "you do 
not understand our resources ; say the word, and these 
fifty hams which confound you — I will put them all 
into a glass bottle no bigger than your thumb!" 

To be sure, the accounts given by Petronius Ar- 
biter, Juvenal, JNIartial, and other satirists must be 
taken with some limitation. Yet, making all due "al- 
lowance for exaggeration, it is hardly to be wondered 
at that many of the olden rulers and opulent person- 
ages, armed with unbounded power and possessed of 
unlimited riches, should have yielded so abjectly to 
luxury and vice as to have fully warranted the stric- 
ture of Juvenal : 

"The baffled sons must feel the same desires, 
And act the same mad follies as their sires. 
Vice has attained its zenith. . . ." 

These accounts, moreover, attested as they are by 
serious annalists, may not be dismissed as largely im- 
aginative or grossly exaggerated. The strictures on 
the besetting vices that occur in the contemporary 
works of historians, moralists, philosophers, and poets 
37 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

are far too vehement and voluminous to leave any 
doubt of the inordinate abuse of the table among the 
ancients, particularly among the Romans, when their 
wealthy capital, as Propertius records, "was beset all 
round in its own victories." It was the period of in- 
satiable voracity and the peacock's plume. Even 
Martial was careful to state that it was vices, not per- 
sonages, to which his scourge was applied. His caus- 
tic and highly seasoned epigrams deal largely with 
the dinner-table, and from these one may derive a 
most realistic idea of the bill of fare of his contem- 
poraries, as well as of the varied and luxurious char- 
acter of the presents made to the guests at feasts. 
The excesses of eating and drinking are roundly de- 
nounced by him at every turn, while his picture of the 
crapulous Santra in the Seventh Book is only equalled 
by the "Portrait of a Gourmand" of Carle Vernet, 
or Spenser's etching of "Gluttony" in the "Faerie 
Queene." 

Horace in particular, a scholar, poet, and man of 
the world, the friend of JNIacenas, and an onlooker 
and frequenter of society, may be accepted as a com- 
petent authority on the table manners and customs 
of the times. No one more than he was aware of the 
gross extravagance and intemperance of the age. 
Nor has any writer depicted his own and the every- 
day life of the Romans more vividly. To peruse him 
attentively in the "Satires," "Epistles," "Epodes," 
and "Odes," is to take part in the feasts, be admitted 
to the inner circle of the optimates, knock at the door 
of Lydia, and join in the pageant of the Sacra Via. 
The table of Maecenas, the rich voluptuary and dilet- 

38 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

tante, who had a palace on the EsquiHne Hill, where 
Horace was often a guest, was widely celebrated. As 
the poet was a visitor also at the palace of Augustus, 
and numbered among his friends the most eminent 
men of Rome, he had unusual opportunities to become 
acquainted both with the vie intime and haute cuisine 
of his day. While not a gastronomer, he was far from 
averse to good living, though, from his digestion not 
being of the soundest, he had frequent cause to rue 
the sumptuous banquets, borrowed from the Asiatic 
Greeks, which were in vogue at the time. And while 
he was a frequent attendant at the entertainments of 
the wealthy, we nevertheless find him constantly cen- 
suring their intemperance and extravagance at table. 
For himself, he would have "simple dinners, richly 
dressed," and "let the strong toil give relish to the 
feast." Rare old C^ecuban, Falernian, and INIassic, 
JNI^ecenas might pour out at home from his well- 
filled amphorae into chased crystal cups and vessels 
of gold — at the Sabine farm the common Sabine 
wine in modest goblets would alone be tendered 
him. 

If we may regard the elaborate repast of Nasi- 
dienus as a typical one, we may readily conceive the 
nightmares that must have ensued from such a pleni- 
tude of viands and wines and such copious libations. 
The student of Horace will remember the menu. 
First a Lucanian boar, surrounded by excitants to 
the appetite — 

"Rapes, Lettuce, Radishes, Anchovy-Brine 
With Skcrrets, and the Lees of Coan Wine." 

39 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Fish and wild fowl, lampreys and shrimps, succeeded, 
washed down with brimmers of C«cuban, Alban, 
Falernian, and vintages of Greece ; and finally, as the 
feast and the night wore on, 

"The Slaves behind in mighty Charger bore 
A Crane in Pieces torn, and powder'd o'er 
With Salt and Flour, and a white Gander's Liver, 
Stuff 'd fat with Figs, bespoke the curious Giver ; 
Besides the Wings of Hares, for, so it seems, 
No man of Luxury the Back esteems. 
Then saw we Black-birds with o'er roasted Breast, 
Laid on the Board, and Ring-Doves Rump-less drest ! 
Delicious Fare ! did not our Host explain 
Their various Qualities in endless Strain, 
Their various Natures ; but we fled the Feast, 
Resolved in Vengeance nothing more to taste, 
As if Canidia, with empoison'd Breath, 
Worse than a Serpent's, blasted it with Death." ^ 

That Nasidienus was proverbially penurious, was 
guilty of purchasing tainted game in order to save 
expense, and would have been chary of his wines had 
it not been for Servilius, who cried loudly for "larger 
goblets," leads one to conclude that even his repast 
was far below those of the pampered upper classes 
in its prodigality. 

Apicius, who is referred to by Pliny, Seneca, Ju- 
venal, and Martial, is said to have squandered nearly 
four million dollars in riotous living, when, looking 
over his accounts, he found he had only about a tenth 
of that amount remaining, and, unwilling to starve 

1 Rev. Philip Francis' transl. 

40 



WITH LUCULLUS AXD APICIUS 

on such a pittance, he poisoned himself. Of the three 
persons bearing the name of Apicius, one of whom 
hved in the times of Sulla, another during the reign 
of Tiberius, and the third under Trajan, none is sup- 
posed to be the author of "De re Culinaria," since 
published in so many different editions, a work now 
ascribed to Ccelius, who, in admiration of the re- 
nowned Marcus Gabius, termed himself Apicius. 
The latter, the richest of the three who bore the name 
by riglit, vied with royalty in his regal tastes. He 
is reported as having voyaged to Africa expressly to 
ascertain whetlier the crawfish there were superior to 
those he was accustomed to have at ]Minturnse; but 
finding them inferior, he returned immediately, with- 
out setting foot to land. "Look at Nomentanus and 
Apicius," says Seneca, "who digest all the good things, 
as they call them, of the sea and the land, and review 
upon their tables the whole animal kingdom. Look 
at them as they lie on beds of roses, gloating over 
their banquet and delighting their ears with music, 
their eyes with exhibitions, their palates with fla- 

VOIU'S." 

Where the deliciously scented cyclamen carpets the 
shore of the Mediterranean in myriads at Baia, Api- 
cius repaired to savour shell-fish — "the manna of the 
sea" — and from the self -same sea that laves the isle 
of Capri and rolls its azure wave into the famed blue 
grotto, Tiberius sent turbots to him that Apicius was 
not rich enough to buy himself. 

Yet far exceeding Apicius, who was almost deified 
for discovering how to maintain oysters fresh and 
alive during long journeys, was his predecessor Lu- 
41 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

cullus, the wealthy general, a great patron of learn- 
ing and the arts, as well as the king of epicures. 
Juvenal has etched his portrait in four lines : 

"Stretch'd on the unsocial couch, he rolls his eyes 
O'er many an orb of matchless form and size, 
Selects the fairest to receive his plate. 
And at one meal devours a whole estate." 

The Monte Ci'isto of Naples, he pierced a mountain to 
place two of his country villas in closer communication 
and to conduct the sea-water to one of them, where 
he had constructed a huge aquarium for sea-fish. 
His carvers were paid at the rate of four thousand 
a year. The various dining-rooms at his Neapolitan 
palace were designed according to the costliness of 
the repasts which were given in them, the saloon of 
Apollo being the most sumptuous. Cicero and Pom- 
pey, resolving one day to surprise him, presented 
themselves unceremoniously, and, upon being pressed 
to remain to dinner, assented on condition that he 
would go to no extra trouble. Summoning his major- 
domo, he dismissed him with the simple command: 

"Place two more covers in the saloon of Apollo" — 
the cost of the dinner in this apartment being fixed 
at a thousand dollars per plate. 

No review of the Roman table, however brief, 
would be complete without retelling the story of Lu- 
cullus as his own host. On this occasion, when, 
through some misunderstanding, he was without 
guests for dinner, his cook appeared as usual to re- 
ceive his orders. 

42 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

"I am alone," said Lucullus; Avhereupon his ser- 
vitor, thinking that a five-hundred-dollar dinner 
would suffice, acted accordingly. At the conclusion 
of his repast, his face flushed with the juices of Faler- 
nian, Lucullus sent for his minister of the interior 
and took him severely to task. There were no fig- 
peckers, and the prized spawn of the sea-lamprey was 
missing. The cook was profuse in his apologies. 

"But, seigneur, you were alone — " 

"It is precisely when I happen to be alone that 
you require to pay especial attention to the dinner; 
at such times you must remember that Lucullus dines 
with- Lucullus." 

The great dining-room of Claudius, termed "JNIer- 
cury," was constructed on an equally magnificent 
scale. But this was eclipsed by Nero's marvellous 
Domus aurea, which, through a circular movement 
of its sides and ceiling, counterfeited the changes of 
the skies and represented the difi'erent seasons of the 
year, -while at intervals during the repast flowers and 
essences were showered down upon the guests. 

The gluttonous feasts of Verres, Claudius, Nero, 
Vitellius, Domitian, and the rest of the Roman poten- 
tates are familiar to the student of ancient history. 
Claudius, who had usually six hundred guests at his 
feasts, died of an indigestion of mushrooms, facili- 
tated, it is said, by a poisoned feather applied to his 
throat. Tiberius is also said to have met his death 
through an aspliyxia of poisonous mushrooms, sec- 
onded by sufl'ocation on the part of his favourite 
INIacro, who in turn was ])ut to death by Caligula. 
Caligula was noted for the fabulous sums spent upon 
43 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

his suppers, while Caesar is credited with a four 
months' supper bill of more than five millions sterling. 
The present of this monarch, during one of his table 
debauches, of a sum equivalent to eighty thousand dol- 
lars to his charioteer Eutychus is the largest table 
present recorded of the Romans. Seneca states that 
one of his suppers cost nearly half a million, and he 
also it was who gave his charger Incitatus barley 
mixed with wine in a vase of gold. Vitellius spent 
not less than fifteen thousand dollars for each of his 
repasts, the composition of his favourite dishes re- 
quiring that vessels should constantly ply between the 
Gulf of Venice and the Straits of Cadiz. The flocks 
of flamingos placidly feeding in the Pontine marshes 
dreaded his fowlers — he had dishes made of their 
tongues. Later on, their haunts were invaded by 
Heliogabalus, who preferred their brains.^ The life 
and reign of Vitellius were a continuous orgy, and his 
name was bequeathed to a multitude of dishes. Ac- 
cording to Suetonius, Tiberius, who was inordinately 
fond of fig-peckers and mushrooms, presented Sa- 
binus the author with eight thousand dollars for hav- 
ing composed a dialogue in which the fig-pecker, 
mushroom, oyster, and thrush were the dramatis per- 
sonce. As the author and the poet are proverbially 
scantily remunerated, it is easy to imagine the wealth 
that a competent chef could command in the days 
when the haughty mistress of the world, sated with 
conquest and exultant with victory, lapsed into luxury 
and sensuality, while a constant stream of riches 

^ " My red wing gives me my name; my tongue had been able to sing ? " 
but it is my tongue that is consid- — Martial, Epigrams: "The Fla- 
ered savory by epicures. What if mingo." 

44 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

flowed into her treasury from tributary rulers and 
oppressed and spoliated nations. 

The truffle and the snail were well known to the 
ancients. The speckled trout, of which there appears 
to be no mention by the recorders, seems to have been 
a neglected dainty. How Lucullus would have re- 
joiced at the sight of the pompano — that ruby of the 
salt-sea wave — and Apicius have been transported at 
the apparition of a pufF-paste pate of oyster-crabs! 
The brilliant iridescent hues of the rainbow-trout 
would have held a Roman epicure spellbound, while 
a dish of terrapin or a celery-fed Chesapeake canvas- 
back might have decided the destinies of an empire. 
What a burst of applause a platter of roast ruffed- 
grouse would have commanded from a senate ! Were 
the soft-shell crab a denizen of Baia?, or the white- 
fish, as he attains supreme perfection in Lake On- 
tario, a habitant of an Italian tarn, one can fancy 
how a feast of Heliogabalus would have been pro- 
longed. That there are still as good fish in the sea 
as ever were caught seems an anomaly, in view of the 
voracity of the old Latins for this form of food. 

History has recorded less of the excesses of the 
table during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, INIarcus 
Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and even during the dis- 
solute monarchies of Commodus and Caracalla. It 
would be wrong, however, to assume that these ex- 
cesses were renounced, even where the rulers did not 
themselves set the example, or that they did not con- 
tinue in a flagrant form. The unbridled lust and 
gluttony of Commodus w^ere scarcely equalled save 
by Heliogabalus. Septimius Severus, unable to en- 
45 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

dure the tortures he experienced in all his members, 
especially in his feet, in place of the poison that was 
refused him eagerly devoured a quantity of rich 
viands and died of indigestion. Gout and kindred 
maladies were notoriously common with both men and 
women, and upon this subject Seneca has descanted 
at length: "Is it necessary to enumerate the multitude 
of maladies that are the punishment of our luxury? 
The multiplicity of viands has produced a multipli- 
city of maladies. The greatest of physicians, the 
founder of medicine, has said that women do not be- 
come bald or subject to gout. IJ^ow they are both 
bald and gouty. Woman has not changed since in 
her nature, but in her mode of life, and, imitating man 
in his excesses, she shares his infirmities. Where is 
the lake, the sea, the forest, the spot of land that is 
not ransacked to gratify our palates? Our infirmities 
are the price of the pleasures to which we have aban- 
doned ourselves beyond all measure and restraint. 
Are you astounded at the innumerable diseases? — 
count the number of our cooks!" 

The favourite garum of the old Romans of itself 
were enougli to have invited all the diseases that indi- 
gestion is heir to. This was a liquid, and was thus 
prepared: The insides of large fish and a variety of 
smaller fish were placed in a vessel and well salted, 
and then exposed to the sun till they became putrid. 
In a short time a liquor was produced, which, being 
strained off, was the garum or liquamen. 

With the advent of Heliogabalus upon the throne, 
gluttony and extravagance reigned supreme. By this 
youthful monarch, during his brief reign of fovir 

46 



WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 

years, the tyranny of Nero, and Caligula, the lust of 
Claudius and Commodus, the prodigality of Vitel- 
lius, the saturnalia and riotous living of Verres and 
Domitian were trebly exceeded. Entering Rome 
from Syria in a chariot drawn by naked women, 
siu'rounded with eunuchs, courtesans, and buffoons, 
wearing the tiara of the priests of the sun-god, 
dressed as a female in stuffs of silk and gold, and ac- 
companied by a historiographer whose sole function 
it was to describe his orgies, he at once eclipsed all 
his predecessors. The Sardanapalus of Rome, his 
daily feasts are said to have consisted of over twoscore 
courses, and to have cost not less than ten thousand 
dollars each. 

As related by Lampridius, his table-couches were 
stuffed with hares' down or partridges' feathers, his 
beds adorned with coverlets of gold, and in his kitchens 
none but richly chased utensils of silver were em- 
ployed. The invention of a new sauce was royally 
rewarded by him, but if it was not relished the inven- 
tor was confined, to partake of nothing else until he 
had produced anotlier more agreeable to the imperial 
palate. The liver of the priceless mullet seeming too 
paltrj^ to Heliogabalus, he was served with large 
dishes completely filled with the gills. He brought 
the soft roe of the rare sea-eel into disrepute by main- 
taining a fleet of fishing craft for their capture, and 
ordering that the peasants of the JNIediterranean 
should be gorged with them. Besides countless dishes, 
each of which was worth the price of a king's ran- 
som, he was the inventor of coloured decorations at 
table. "In the summer," says Lampridius, "Helio- 
47 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

gabalus gave feasts at which the service was com- 
posed of different colours, constantly varied through- 
out the season." The brains of partridges and os- 
triches were among his favourite dainties. Fre- 
((uently the brains of six hundred ostriches were served 
at a single repast, as well as the heads of innumerable 
parrots, pheasants, and peacocks. He had cocks- 
combs served in pates, and was therefore the inventor 
of vol an vent ci la financiere. The tongues of night- 
ingales and thrushes he had likewise served in pates, 
and hearing that a strange bird, the phoenix, existed 
in Lydia, he offered two hundred pieces of gold to 
him who would procure it. In the course of his reign 
of four years he had depleted the treasury of an em- 
pire largely through gluttony, and died, anticipating 
the assassination of his soldiers, by his own hand. 

It were superfluous to follow the subject to the 
decadence of the Empire, when, with wars and con- 
tentions and invasions of conquering hordes, came the 
decline of cookery, literature, and the arts. Nor does 
history record a resumption of gastronomy until to- 
\^'ards the Renaissance — when Dante and Petrarch 
had touched their lyres, and Donatello and Robbia 
wrought their bassi-rilievi; when the jNIedici and the 
Este became the patrons of art ; when Leonardo, Raf - 
faello, Titian, and Guido stamped their genius upon 
the canvas; when Michelangelo created his "David," 
and Cellini his "Perseus"; when Giorgio fashioned 
his gorgeous lustres, and Orazio his glorious vasques. 

Or, rather, with the i-evival of cookery we find the 
revival of literature and the arts, and mark the ^Nluses 
resume their sway. 

48 




leliuretie 

taiilcocnt grant cuy 

flnterbttlRoytJC 

5rancCt 




Ds feu Bamabc CtjaaflTaro/p^ee 
notice Dame De Confojit. 

C^r ftnifirefitire be CailTni^ flrunt 

,cuf f ihirt, 'Jmpzime nouu«rftrment:a fa 

mail ot) be feu l&ama6eif6au(foi5/p2€d 



LE LIVRE DE TAILLEVENT 
Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1545 




THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 



"Le malheair de toutes les cuisines excepts <ie la citisine fi-an^alse, c'est 
(I'avoir I'air d'une ciiisiue de hasard. La cuisine frangaise est seule 
raisonnee, savante, chimique." — Alexandre Dumas : Le Cauease. 



IT is not unnatural that cookery as an art should 
finally have been resumed in the land where it 
had once attained its greatest development. First 
among Italian treatises on the subject was the vol- 
ume of Bartolomeo Platina, "De Honesta Volup- 
tate et Valitudine," which was written in Latin and 
printed at Venice in 1474, a year or two after the in- 
troduction of printing into that city. INIany editions 
of this appeared subsequently, as also translations in 
French and German. Other Italian treatises of the 
sixteenth century were Rosselli's "Opera Nova chia- 
mata Epulario" (Venice, 1516) ; a work by Christo- 
foro di Messisbugo, chef to the Cardinal of Ferrara 
49 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

(Ferrara, 1549); a manual by Bartolomeo Scaj^pi, 
privy cook to Pope Pius V (Venice, 1570) ; and works 
by Vincenzo Cervio, Domenico Romoli, and Gio. Bat- 
tista Rossetti — Cervio and Romoli having been re- 
spectively carver and cook to Cardinal Farnese. The 
two most important Italian culinary publications of 
the seventeenth century were those of Vittorio Lan- 
cioletti (Rome, 1627) and Antonio Frugoli (Rome, 
1632) . In addition to these was the old Roman trea- 
tise "De re Culinaria" of Coelius Apicius, published 
in 1498, as well as many works relating to wines and 
the hygiene of gastronomy. 

Glancing for a moment across the INIediterranean, 
from Italy to Spain, we find record of but one Span- 
ish cook-book of any note during the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries — that of Ruberto de Nola (To- 
ledo, 1525). While Spanish cookery is far from 
meriting a place among the fine arts, one must yet 
thank Spain for at least two things — the dulcet Span- 
ish onion and the poignant Spanish omelette — as one 
should be grateful to INIexico for the tamale and to 
Russia for its caviare. But the Spaniard boils his 
partridge (perdrix a I'Espagnol), as the Hollander 
boils his chicken, with rice or vermicelli. The Span- 
ish "olla podrida" — the Alhambra of the national cui- 
sine, wherein garlic, onion, and red peppers are by 
no means forgotten — is well known to all travellers 
beyond the Pyrenees; but, on account of the many 
native ingredients it contains, it is difficult to be ob- 
tained in perfection outside its original country. Its 
best form is the olla en grande, which requires two 
pots to brew it in — the rich olla that Don Quixote 

50 



THE REXAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

says is eaten only by canons and presidents of col- 
leges. With virgin oil and a pianissimo touch, so far 
as the garlic is concerned, the aristocratic guisado 
is both an excellent and accommodating dish, inasmuch 
as a fowl, pheasant, rabbit, or liare may serve as its 
base; and for those who wish to try a dish with a 
Spanish name, prepared somewhat on the order of the 
French civet of hare, the recipe may be given: "Dress 
and prepare a fowl, pheasant, rabbit, or hare — which- 
ever is most easily obtainable — taking care to pre- 
serve the liver, giblets, and blood. Cut it up in pieces 
and dry, without washing, on a cloth. Brown a few 
slices of onion in a gill of boiling fat, turn them with 
the pieces of meat into an earthenware pan, add a 
seasoning of lierbs, garlic, onions, a few chillies, salt 
and pepper, put in also a few slices of bacon, and pour 
over all sufficient red wine and rich stock in equal pro- 
portions to moisten. Place the pan over the fire and 
bring the liquor slowly to the boiling-point, skim and 
stir frequently, and let it simmer until the meat is 
quite tender. About half an hour before serving, put 
in the liver, giblets, and blood. When ready, turn 
the whole into a hot dish and serve quickly." 

But Spain for its bull-fights, and France for its 
cuisine ! With the revival of cookery in Italy, the art 
gradually advanced to the home of the Gaul, where, 
at a subsequent epoch, it was destined to attain its 
highest development. The early cooks of France were 
Italians, and the reader will recall INIontaigne's pic- 
turesque passage where the author would fain possess 
part of the skill which some cooks have "who can so 
curiously season and temper strange odours with the 
51 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

savour and relish of tlieir meats." In this allusion spe- 
cial reference was made to the artist in the service of 
the King of Tunis, whose viands were "so exquisitely 
farced and so sumptuously seasoned with sweet odor- 
iferous drugs and aromaticall spices, that it was found 
on his hooke of accompt the dressing of one peacocke 
and two fesants amounted to one hundred duckets." 

While there is a flavour of pagan Rome in the price 
of these dishes, they were still considerably less ex- 
pensive than the boars stuffed with fig-peckers of 
Trimalchio, or the flamingos' brains of Heliogabalus, 
and were doubtless as well pre23ared; for the author 
adds that after they had passed through the carver's 
hands their savour flooded not only the dining-cham- 
bers, but all the rooms of the palace, and even the 
streets round about it were filled with an "exceeding 
odoriferous and aromaticall vapour which continued a 
long time after." Such an aroma, at a later era, the 
passer-by might inhale daily from the ovens of the 
Rocher de Cancale, Very, Voisin, Hardy, and Riche. 

These, as well as other references, would indicate 
that during the latter part of the sixteenth century 
cookery had already made considerable progress. To 
be still more explicit, it received its impetus in France 
with the advent of Catherine de' Medici at the court 
of Francis I, the youthful bride of the Due d'Orleans 
bringing her cooks with her from her native country. 
About this period the father of Ronsard the poet was 
maitre d'hotel of the king. The first physician of 
Francis I — Johann Gonthier of Andernach — is also 
credited with having given a great stimulus to cookery, 
chemistry, and surgery. The first French treatise on 

52 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

cookery, originally written in 1375, had appeared 
in the latter part of the fifteenth century. This was 
the "Viandier" of Guillaume Tirel, termed Taille- 
vent, premier queiioc of Charles V — the initial volume 
of the "Cuisinieres Bourgeoises," type of all the suc- 
ceeding manuals of recipes. At least sixteen editions 
of this work are known to have been published, the 
first dated one being that of 1545. In 1349 the author 
was queiuv de bouche of Philippe de Valois, in 1361 
queiLV of the Due de Normandie, and in 1373 he be- 
came premier queiuv of the king. The frontispiece of 
one of the earlier editions depicts a personage con- 
versing with a hunchback, who is carrying two ducks 
in his left hand and a laden hamper in his right. On 
the left, in a dormer-window, appears the head of a 
woman who is seemingly listening to the conversation. 

With better wines than Italy could boast, added to 
a natural aptitude for cookery, France soon made ma- 
terial strides in the art of dining, the science continu- 
ing to improve dviring the reigns of Francis II, 
Charles IX, and Henry III. The Gaul's taste was 
delicate, and his touch was true. For the garlic of 
the Italians he gradually substituted the onion and 
shallot, or at least employed garlic more sparingly; 
and in place of the heavy viands formerly in use 
evolved the more delicate entree, salmis, and entre- 
mets. 

Louis XIII was accustomed not only to kill his 
game, but frequently to prepare it for the table. In 
larding a piece of meat he vied with the most skilful 
practitioners, being led to do so and to put his general 
knowledge of cookery to account from his fear of 
53 



j 

( 

THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

being poisoned. But his kitchen, nevertheless, was a 
parsimonious one; and though he personally super- 
intended all his gardening operations and prided him- 
self on raising spring vegetables earlier in the season 
than any market-gardener, he ignobly disposed of 
liis produce to the wealthy Seigneur de INIontauron, 
whose table far outrivalled that of his royal green- 
grocer. To JNIontauron, counsellor of the king and 
first president of the Bureau of Finance, as well as 
to the Due de Montausier,^ who was first to intro- 
duce large silver spoons and forks, cookery is in- 
debted for maintaining its prestige during the reign 
of tlie thirteenth Louis. Whether at home or absent 
on official duties, it was the habit of JNIontauron to 
keep open house all the year round for princes and 
distinguished personages. So great a benefice was it 
considered to secure a position among the numerous 
serving-men of the household that the chief steward 
had always a long waiting-list to draw from to sujd- 
ply any vacancy, the fortunate applicant on M^hom 
his choice fell readily paying him his customary fee 
of ten louis d'or. 

In his munificence and hospitality, JNIontauron an- 
ticipated Fouquet, but, like the princely Marquis de 
Belle-Isle, whose hospitality was so illy rewarded by 
Louis XIV, his name remains unhonoured by an 
entree or a sauce. Riclielieu, who was a distinguished 
gastronome, fared better, and lias had his memory 
perpetuated by many a savoury dish. 

Thus the way was paved for the notable strides 
under Louis XIV and Bechamel, Conde and Vatel — 

1 The Due de Montausier used to say, QnPa sa tenue de convive 
on rcconnaissait un gentilhomme. 

54 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

the Grand Monarque and his maitre d'hotel, the great 
Conde and the equally renowned Vatel. The sup- 
pers and entertainments of Louis XIV were in accord 
with the magnificence of his court; the monarch w^ho 
commanded Leveau and JNIansard to render Ver- 
sailles a pleasure-house worthy of his fame, who 
stocked the parks of his vast demesnes with game, and 
who was a passionate lover of the chase, being natu- 
rally exacting as to the renown of his table. It was 
his motto — "One eats well who works well." While 
Lebrun and Poussin were decorating his regal cha- 
teau, and Le Notre was embellishing its parks. Be- 
chamel superintended the royal ranges and discovered 
new sauces. La Quintinie presiding over his vast vege- 
table-gardens to provide superior varieties of fruits 
and esculents. So great was the reputation of La 
Quintinie that he was also called upon to establish the 
splendid vegetable-gardens of the Due de Montausier 
at Rambouillet, of Fouquet at Vaux, and of Colbert 
at Sceaux. 

Saint- Simon has left a minute account of the daily 
life of Ijouis XIV, from his ceremonious levee to his 
soiree late in the evening. It was his habit to rise at 
eight and partake of a simple breakfast of bread and 
wine mixed with water. He dined alone, at one, at a 
square table in his own chamber, where several soups, 
three courses, and a dessert were regularly served, 
under the direction of his princely attendants. At a 
quarter after ten, supper, his favourite meal, was 
served in state in the Salon du Grand Convert, in 
company with the royal family and the princes of tlie 
blood. 
55 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

If not the most reliable, the most graphic account 
of one of his suppers is that given by Dumas in the 
"Vicomte de Bragelonne," when the formidable Por- 
thos was among his guests and charmed him with his 
marvellous appetite, at the same time contributing his 
recipe for serving a sheep whole, which elicited this 
encomium from his Majestj^: 

"It is impossible that a gentleman who sups so well 
and eats with such splendid teeth should not be the 
most honest man in my kingdom." 

The rejoinder of Porthos to a previous sally of his 
host is equally worthy of recording: 

"You have a lovely appetite, JNIonsieur du Vallon," 
said the king, "and you are a delightful table com- 
panion." 

"Ah! faith, sire, if your Majesty ever came to 
Pierrefonds we would dispose of a sheep between us, 
for I perceive you are not lacking in appetite, either." 

D'Artagnan touched the foot of Porthos under the 
table. 

Porthos coloured. 

"iVt the happy age of your Majesty," continued 
Porthos, in order to retrieve himself, "I belojiged to 
the musketeers, and nothing could appease me. Your 
Majesty has a superb appetite, as I had the honour 
of observing, but chooses with too much delicacy to 
be termed a great eater." 

It will be remembered that few were as competent 
as Dumas to treat of the subject of dining. To quote 
the appreciation of a French writer, "Alexandre Du- 
mas was a fine eater as well as a fine story-teller." 

But the Grand INIonarque, after all, was a ravenous 

56 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

rather than a distinguished eater. As is not unfre- 
quently the case with such persons, he used alcohohc 
beverages in comparative moderation. He was, how- 
ever, fond of hippocras, a drink composed of w^iite 
or red wine, honey, and aromatics, borrowed from the 
ancients; and in his advanced age, as is well known, 
cordials were invented to solace his declining years. 
Champagne was his favourite wine. "Sire," said the 
president of a deputation bringing specimens of the 
various productions of Rheims to the monarch when 
he visited the city in 1666, "we offer you our wine, 
our pears, our gingerbread, our biscuits, and our 
hearts!" The king proved loyal to the wine of the 
Marne until Burgundy, largely diluted, was pre- 
scribed by his last physician, Fagon, whom JNIoliere 
satirised as Dr. Purgon in "Le Malade Imaginaire" 
— a physician who, during the old age of the king, 
rendered his life miserable by cutting him off one by 
one from his favourite dishes. That he needed to be 
restrained, despite his robust constitution and open- 
air life, is apparent from the statement of the Du- 
chesse d'Orleans that she had frequently seen him con- 
sume four plates of different soups, a whole pheasant, 
a partridge, a large plate of salad, a large portion of 
mutton, two good slices of ham, a plateful of sweet- 
meats, and fruit and preserves. 

Thus, while Louis liimself is not entitled to dis- 
tinction as an epicure, and his personal example failed 
to furnish inspiration for his cooks, his table w^as al- 
ways maintained on a scale befitting his station. 
There were, besides, dainty entremets to be supplied 
to La A^alliere, INIontespan, Fontanges, and Mainte- 
57 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

lion, and new surprises must perforce be placed be- 
fore his numerous guests of distinction. Among such 
dishes was the famous cod, or morue a la creme, which 
immortalised the JNIarquis de Bechamel. Like Lu- 
cullus and Apicius, moreover, Conde and Fouquet, 
with their princely revenues and luxurious tastes, ap- 
peared to stimulate the art and further the pleasures 
of the table. 

jNIadame de Montespan, with her temper, naturally 
proved a good cook, and did not disdain an occasional 
seance with the stew-pans. She is credited with having 
invented a sauce and encouraging every art that min- 
istered to the service of the table, even to expending 
a sum of nine thousand livres for a wine-cooler. Fou- 
quet's table, over which Vatel presided, and subse- 
quently that of Conde under the same artist, to say 
nothing of the splendidly equipped establishment of 
Fouquet's successor Colbert, were scarcely less re- 
nowned than the kitchens of Versailles. The grand 
fete in honour of the king given by Fouquet, JNIar- 
quis of Belle-Isle, at Vaiix, will be remembered, as 
also the jealousy of his jNIajesty at the lavish hospi- 
tality of his superintendent of finance. 

Equally sumptuous were the entertainments of the 
Prince de Conde, in whose cuisine during certain sea- 
sons there were regularly consumed as many as a 
hundred and fifty pheasants a week. 

Meanwhile, INIoliere and Boileau had sung the 
praises of gastronomy, but not to that degree which 
was to cliarm France during the consulate and the 
empii'e, Allien its harp had been touched by the facile 
fingers of Berchoux. 

58 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

Numerous cook-books had already appeared and 
exerted their influence since the "Viandier" first 
pointed out the way. He who would give a dinner 
a la Louis XIV should consult "Les Delices de la 
Campagne," a volume published in 1654, of which 
many editions were afterwards issued, tlie author 
being Nicolas de Bonnefons, valet de chambre of the 
king. From this treatise one may form an idea of 
the variety and profusion of the dishes then in vogue, 
and to what perfection and luxury the science had 
attained.^ In the previous year appeared the cele- 
brated "Pastissier Francois," the Amsterdam edition 
of which is among the most famous of the Elzevirs — 
a copy originally priced at a few sous having been 
sold for ten thousand francs, which would seem a 
rather exorbitant price to pay for instructions in 
seventeenth-century pastry-making and preparing 
eggs for fat and lean days. 

The tragic death of Vatel by his own hand, owing 
to the non-arrival of the sea-fish at Chantilly, is too 
well known to need narrating. Vatel, the victim of 
his art, was also an author, having contributed an 
illustrated treatise on carving entitled "I'Escuyer 
Tranchant," an accomplishment which he states could 
scarceh^ be acquired without the ministration and the 
])recepts of the master — sans la voye et les preceptes 
(hi maisirc. A paragraph will serve to show the na- 
ture and scope of his contribution to culinary litera- 
ture : 

1 Les Delices de la Campagne. & dans les Eaux. Dedie avx dames 

Suitte du Jardinier francois ov est Mesnageres. A Paris, chez Pierre 

enseigne a preparer jmur I'vsage de Des-Hayes, 1654. 
la vie tout ce (lui croist sur la Terre 

59 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"A carver should be well bred, inasmuch as he should main- 
tain a first rank among the servants of his master. Pleasing, 
civil, amiable, and well disposed, he should present himself at 
table with his sword at his side, his mantle on his shoulder, 
and his napkin on his left arm, though some are in the habit 
of placing it on the guard of their sword in an unobjection- 
able manner. He should make his obeisance when approach- 
ing the table, proceed to carve the viands, and divide them 
understandingly according to the number of the guests. Or- 
dinarily he should station himself by the side of his master, 
carving with knives suitable to the size of the meats. A carver 
should be very scrupulous in his deportment, his carriage 
should be grave and dignified, his appearance cheerful, his 
eye serene, his head erect and well combed, abstaining as much 
as possible from sneezing, yawning, or twisting his mouth, 
speaking very little and directly, without being too near or 
too far from the table." 

Assuredly, one who observed such nicety in his 
carving must have been extremely painstaking in com- 
pounding his liaisons. Indeed, the conscientiousness 
manifest throughout the pages of his manual easily 
enables one to foresee how his chagrin at the absence 
of the roast at two of the tables and his not having 
received the fish at the fete of Conde so preyed upon 
his mind as to lead him, during a moment of despair, 
to fall upon his own sword.^ With his sense of the 
proprieties so highly keyed, one can also fancy how 
lie must have been shocked on hearing of the prince's 
awkwardness at a tavern where Conde, after proclaim- 

1 The cause assigned to Vatel's cause on cooking the fish they were 

death has been disputed, some hav- found " not to be so fresh as they 

ing maintained it was not owing to might be." 
the non-arrival of the fish, but be- 

60 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

ing his ability as a cook before a number of compan- 
ions, ignominionsly overturned an omelette into the 
fire, and was compelled to return the spider to the 
more skilful hands of the hostess. A similar gaucherie 
is related of Napoleon I when, one day at the Tuile- 
ries, insisting on taking the place of the Empress 
jNIarie-Louise, who was making an omelette herself 
in her own apartments, he awkwardly flipped it on 
the floor, and was obliged to confess his inaptitude 
and allow the empress to proceed with her cooking. 

During the regency of Philippe d'Orleans, atten- 
tion became directed to the chemistry of cooking, the 
dinners of the regent being celebrated for their com- 
bination of refinement and art — "for splendidly 
larded viands, matelotes of the most tempting quality, 
and turkeys superbly stuffed." 

Louis XV, who was himself a practitioner of re- 
markable skill, continued, with the aid of his cooks — 
Moustier and Vincent de la Chapelle — to foster the 
development which his predecessors had promoted. 
"Who could enumerate," says Mercier, "all the dishes 
of the new cuisine? It is an absolutely new idiom. 
I have tasted viands prepared in so many ways and 
fashioned with such art that I could not imagine what 
they were." "Louis XV ate astoundingly," sa^'s Bar- 
bier; "although his stomach was extremely elastic, he 
forced it to such an extent that his indigestions were 
of great frequency, and called for constant medica- 
tion. Already at an early age he became a great 
drinker of champagne, and set the mode for cold 
pates of larks. The table was the only serious occu- 
pation of his life." On hunting-days it was a fre- 
61 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

qiient practice of the king to give a dinner for llis 
courtiers at which each was called upon to prepare a 
dish. De la Gorse mentions a dinner given at St. 
Hubert where all the dishes were prepared by the 
Prince de Beaufremont, the INIarquis de Polignac, 
and the Dues de Gontaut, d'Ayen, de Coigny, and de 
la Valliere, the king on his part contributing the pou- 
lets au basilic. 

At this period there appeared, among innumerable 
cook-books, a work of four volumes entitled, "Sup- 
pers of the Court," a treatise which has been pro- 
nounced one of the best and most complete of its kind.^ 
To Louis XV belongs the invention of tables volantes, 
or, to speak more truly, the revival of tables a la Tri- 
malchio — like those devised during the times of the 
old Romans — which descended after each course 
through the floor, to appear reladen with new sur- 
prises. It was to this monarch, who insisted that 
women could not rise to the sublime heights of the cui- 
sine, that JNIadame du Barry gave the successful sup- 
per from which, it was said, originated the order of the 
cordon bleu for accomplished artisans of her sex. This 
was the menu, as elaborated by the best cuisiniere 
that the reigning favourite could procure: Coulis de 
faisan, iietites croustades de foie de lottes, salmis de 
becassines, pain de volaille a la supreme, poularde 
au cresson, ecrevisses au vin de sauterne, biscuits de 
peclies au noyau, creme de cerneaux, and f raises au 
marasqiiin. Lady Morgan asserts, liowever, that this 
title was first given to JNIarie, a celebrated cuisiniere 

^ Les Soupers de la Cour, ou I'art suivant les quatre Saisons. A Paris 
de travailler toutes sortes d'alimens, chez Guillyn, Libraire, 1755. 
Pour servir les meilleures Tables, 

62 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

of the tax-gatherer who built the palace of I'Elysee 
Bourbon. Still another explanation of the term is 
that it originated with Madame de ]\Iaintenon, who 
established a school at St. Cyr for the education of 
the orphan daughters of ennobled officers. The pu- 
pils were carefully instructed in the culinary art, and 
to those who excelled a blue ribbon was presented as 
a badge of reward. 

Again, if we accept a reference of Albert Glatigny 
in one of his two airy poems on old Versailles, the 
term would appear to concern the JNIarquise de ]\Ion- 
tespan, who, as has already been stated, was a cook 
of no little merit: 

"Parfois le soir, au bras d'un militaire 
Vetu d'azur, arrogant comnie un paon, 
Un cordon-bleu passait avcc mystere, 
Et I'on disait, 'Louis et Montespan !' " 

(Sometimes at eve, on arm of cavalier 

Bedight in blue, like some proud peacock's van, 

A cordon-bleu pass'd by with mystic air, 

The while one said, "Louis and Montespan!") 

In order to captivate the aff'ections of her royal 
master more readily, the Duchesse de Chateauroux 
secured the most versatile kitchener who was to be 
found ; and the wily and beautiful JNIarquise de Pom- 
padour, thinking that the surest way to a man's heart 
is through his stomach, created filets de volaille a la 
hellevue, palais de hoeuf a la Pompadour, and ten- 
drons d'aigneau a la soleil. But the Louis were pro- 
verbially fickle — there w^ere fillettes as w-ell as filets; 
63 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

and while these cuhnary novelties appealed to the 
jaded royal palate for the time, they failed to retain 
the royal affections or wrest the monarch from his 
life of dissipation. 

The refinements of the science were lost upon Louis 
XVI, M^hose robust appetite needed only to be ap- 
peased by "pieces of resistance" — the art, nevertheless, 
continuing to flourish under the nobility, the wealthy 
financiers, and the ecclesiastics. New discoveries con- 
tinued to be made, and the relation of cookery to man's 
psychical nature — the affinity of the spirit with the 
stomach — became more and more apparent. Thus it 
w^as observed by the Marechal de JNIouchy, who so 
valiantly defended the king when the palace was at- 
tacked by a mob, that the flesh of the pigeon possesses 
especial sedative or consoling virtues. It was accord- 
ingly his wont, whenever he had lost a relative or a 
friend, to say to his cook: 

"You will serve me with two roast pigeons for din- 
ner; I have noticed that after eating a brace of pig- 
eons I arise from the table feeling much more re- 
signed." 

During the Revolution, when the court had ceased 
to exist and private establishments were no longer 
maintained, cookery necessarily languished for a pe- 
riod — to blossom anew in that familiar feature of the 
French capital, the restaurant. Internal dissension, 
in closing the hotels of the wealthy, was thus the 
means of throwing numbers of master-cooks out of 
employment, who subsequently turned restaurateurs, 
and not a few of whom became millionaires. With 
the restaurants, the dealers in delicacies and provi- 

64 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

sions increased proportionately, and dining and good 
living advanced apace. 

A striking example of a gastronomer philanthro- 
pist is tliat of the Vicomte de B arras, surnamed le 
beau, who flourished during the Directory, and who 
was celebrated for his dinners, his prodigality, and his 
gallantry. During his later years he continued to en- 
tertain sumptuously, although obliged to confine him- 
self to a single dish — a large plate of rusk moistened 
with the juice of an underdone leg of mutton. At his 
banquets a lackey was always stationed back of the 
chair of each guest to see that he was never obliged to 
wait. Among the countless menus of his entertain- 
ments, the following, signed by himself and accom- 
panied by a note in his own handwriting, will show 
the excellence of his dinners and his solicitude for his 
guests. It will be noted that, apart from the lavish 
provision made for the gentler sex in the dessert, the 
menu was one of quality as opposed to mere quantity : 

Carte Dinatoire 
Pour La Table Du Citoyen Directeur et General 
Barras, Le Decadi 30 Floreal. 
Douze personnes. 
1 potage. 2 plats de rot. 

1 releve, 6 entremets. 

6 entrees. 1 salade. 

24 plats de dessert. 
Le potage aux petits oignons a la ci-devant minime. 
Le releve, un troncon d'esturgeon k la broche. 
Lcs Six Enti'ecs: 
1 d'un saute de filets de turbot ji I'liommo de confiance, ci- 
devant maitre-d'hotel. 

65 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

1 d'anguillcs a la tartare. 

1 de concombrcs farcis a la moclle. 

1 vol-au-vcnt dc blanc de volaille a la Bechamel. 

1 d'un ci-devant St. Pierre sauce aux caprcs. 

1 de filets de pcrdrix en anncaux. 

Les Deux Plats de Rot: 
1 de goujons du departcnient. 
1 d'une carpc au court-bouillon. 

Les Six Entremets: 
1 d'oeufs a la neige. 
1 bettcraves blanches sautes au jambon. 
1 d'une gclee au vin de jMadere. 
1 de beignets de crcme a la flcur d'oranger. 
1 de lentilles a la ci-devant reine a la creme au blond de veau, 
1 de culs d'artichauts a la ravigotc. 

1 salade celeri en remoulade. 

Beneath the bill of fare were these remarks, signed 
B arras : 

"There is too much fish. Leave out the gudgeons ; the rest is 
all right. Do not forget to place cushions on the cliairs of the 
citoijennes Tallien, Talma, Beauharnais, Hainguerlot, and 
Mirandc. And for five o'clock precisely. Have the ices sent 
from A^cloni's ; I don't want an}^ others," 

Tlie first restaurant is generally said to have been 
established in Paris about the middle of the eighteenth 
century (1765) by a cook named Boulanger, in the 
rue des Poulies, with this device to herald its purpose : 
Venite omn'es qui stomacho lahoratk, et ego restau- 
rato vos — "Come all ye that labour with the stomach, 
and I will restore you." Grimod de la Reyniere, how- 
ever, mentions a certain Champ d'Oiseau as the first 

66 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

of his calling, his establishment being in the me des 
Poulies and dating from 1770. The ^larquis de 
Ciissy, in turn, who is also a good authority, has cred- 
ited the signboard of the first Parisian restaurant to 
a man named Lamy. 

The motto and signboard were a conspicuous part 
of the olden tavern, restaurant, and inn, as well as 
other shops devoted to retail trade, and one views with 
regret, both on the Continent and in Great Britain, 
the increasing disappearance of this picturesque fea- 
ture. At one time the signboard was obligatory on 
every landlord and vender of wines and liquors, and 
scarce a century ago few public places that provided 
for the entertainment of man and beast were without 
their illuminated indices. 

Among the most common in France was that of La 
Truie qui file, or the Spinning Pig, in vogue among 
merchants of provisions. A la Marmite de Gargan- 
tua and Aiuv Moutous de Pamir ge were favourite 
signs of restaurants. The frequent I Aon d'Or of 
hotels and taverns often represented a traveller asleep 
— au lit on dart. An Cheval blanc, a very popular 
title, was usually accompanied by the traditional 
phrase, Ici on loge a pied et a cheval. The traveller 
who has visited the smaller towns of France and who 
remembers his dinners will associate many an excel- 
lent table d'hote with the shield of the white charger. 
An hon Coign was a sign in favour with wine-shops 
situated at a corner of a street, while Au Saint Jean- 
Baptiste was a common device of linen-merchants. 
A wine-merchant opposite Pere-Lachaise had these 
words printed on his ensign, Ici on est mieux quen 
67 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

face. A not unfrequent Parisian signboard was that 
of an ox dressed with bonnet, veil, and shawl, to sig- 
nify hoeuf a la mode. A pastry-cook's manifesto de- 
picted a little girl climbing up to reach some cakes in 
a pantry, Avith the title, A la petite Gourinande. A 
corset-maker's sign was accompanied by a large cor- 
sage, with this explanation of its office, Je soutiens 
les faibleSy je compiime les forts, je ramene les egares. 
The emblem of a stocking-maker represented a gri- 
sette trying on a new pair of hose and exhibiting her 
nether charms to an admirer — with the motto, A la 
belle occasion. Among the wittiest of old enseignes 
was that of a Paris boot -maker named Nicque, who 
had for his device a splendid bouquet of flowers, with 
the inscription AiicV Amateurs de la Botte a Nicque. 
Representations of the sun and the moon were among 
the oldest and most common signs both on the Conti- 
nent and in England, the sixteenth-century French 
poet Desire Arthus writing in his "Loyaulte Con- 
sciencieuse des Taverniers": 

"Sur les chcmins des granJs villcs et, champs, 
Ne trouvercz de douze maisons I'une, 
Qui n'ait enseigne d'un soleil, cl'une lunc. 
Tous vendant vin, chascun a son quartier." 

(On roads that wind through town and field, 
Not one in twelve but flaunts the shield 
Of sun or moon, wliose beams benign 
Proclaim an inn dispensing wine.) 

Earl}^ in 1800 the rue Vivienne was celebrated for 
its numerous artistic signs, some of which were sus- 

68 




THE CRIES OF PARIS: "OLD CLOTHES, OLD LACES!' 
Facsimile of an old French plate 



THE RENAISSAXCE OF COOKERY 

pended from the lintels, and otliers painted on the 
door-posts and window-frames. These, with the pic- 
turesque street-criers and the olden sun-dials, have 
gradually become more and more a thing of the past 
in the French capital, though they still add to the 
charm and quaintness of some of the old provincial 
towns, where modern ways have been more slow to 
intrude. How, of a gusty day or on the rising of the 
wind, the old signs creak on their rusty hinges in the 
dark vaulted streets, telling of the roysterings that 
have been held within — of the flashing of rapiers and 
clash of swords, the draining of bumpers and clink of 
louis d'or! 

Previous to the restaurants, the kitchens of the inns, 
wliich were usually poor, and the tables d'hote of some 
of the hotels had meagrely provided for the wants 
of tliose who were unable to provide for themselves 
in houses of their own. Towards the end of the cen- 
tury the restaurant of Beauvilliers and others were 
flourishing, that of Beauvilliers closing in 1793 to be 
reopened with less success at the termination of the 
Revolution. Robert, former chef of a fcnnier-gcnc- 
ral, the distinguished ]\Ieot and his scholars Very, 
Riche, Hardy, and Roze, were among notable masters 
of the time. The "Manuel des Amphitryons" (1808) 
pronounced Robert the elder "the greatest cook of the 
present age." 

About the beginning of the century the table of the 
great Cambaceres was the most renowned in Paris, 
and INI. d'Aigrefeuille was considered the most emi- 
nent epicure. The Prince de Talleyrand was also a 
most distinguished amateur, having been termed "the 
69 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

first fork of his time." At the advanced age of eighty, 
it was his custom to spend nearly an hour every morn- 
ing with his cook, discussing the dishes which were to 
compose the dinner, his only repast. It had long been 
one of his tenets that a careful and healthful cuisine, 
presided over by the best artist he could procure, 
would tend to preserve his health and forefend serious 
maladies far better than a staff of physicians. For 
a period of twelve years Careme was his culinary di- 
rector, with carte blanche to exercise his subtlest skill. 
Two things, Talleyrand used to say, are essential in 
life — to give good dinners and keep well with women, 
a precept he always followed. An axiom of diplo- 
matists and statesmen goes still farther — that poor 
dinners are conducive to poor diplomacy, and bad 
ministerial dinners are equivalent to bad laws and bad 
negotiations. 

The first volume of the "Almanach des Gour- 
mands" (1804) is dedicated to M. d'Aigrefeuille, 
whom the author adjudged most worthy of such pre- 
eminence — "a connoisseur who is the most erudite ar- 
biter of refined alimentary combinations, and who 
understands most thoroughly the difficult and little 
known art of extracting the greatest possible part 
from an excellent repast." Besides referring to him 
as setting daily the finest table in Paris, he is extolled 
as "the guest best adapted to honour an opulent table 
by his delightful manners, his profound knowledge 
of the world, and the constantly varied charm of his 
inexhaustible appetite and conversation." 

Beauvilliers, once chef of INIonsieur, brother of the 
king, was also the author of a cook-book which 

70 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

achieved marked success/ the writer carrying out in 
cookery the precept that DeHlle had apphed to gar- 
dening: 

"Mais ce grand art exige un artiste qui pense, 
Prodigue de genie et non pas de depense." 

/(But this grand art demands an artist of taste — 
\Prodigal of genius and devoid of all waste. ) 

In his fluent dedication to the Marquis de Voppa- 
liere, the writer says: 

"I have not been unmindful of econom}^ either in the 
manipulation or the preservation of foods. ... I have 
sought to teach how, with little outlay, one may have ex- 
quisite viands, and at the same time derive both health and 
pleasure. Good living is at once the luxury which costs the 
least ; and perhaps of all pleasures it is the most innocent. 
You have always held, monsieur, that Wisdom itself 
should strew flowers in the midst of the thorns that are in- 
separable from existence. Often at a banquet Wisdom may 
renew its moral forces. The bonds of society become nar- 
rowed, and rivals or enemies are merged into friends or guests. 
Persons who are entire strangers to each other share in the in- 
timacy of the famil}', differences of rank become obliterated, 
weakness is united to power, manners are polished, and the 
mind takes a fresh flight {Vcsprit electrise prend un nouvel 
cssor). It is perchance in the midst of banquets in the best 
society of Paris and Versailles that you have acquired tliat 
urbanity which characterises 3'ou, that familiarity with the 
grand monde which is enabled to pronounce on ever^'thing at 
a glance." 

1 L'Art du Cuisinier, par A. Beau- actuellement Restaurateur, rue de 

villiers, Ancien Officier de Monsieur, Richelieu, No. 26 a la f^rande Taverne 

comte de Provence, Attache aux Kx- de Londres. A Paris, chez Pillet 

traordinaires des Maisons Royalcs et Aine, 181i, 2 vols. 

71 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Every great cook should be able to say with him, 
"I have inaugurated reforms, improvements, in order 
to advance from what is good to what is better." Al- 
ready, "I'Art du Cuisinier" draws attention to the fact 
that "new dishes," to a large extent, are not new dishes 
— a chef supplies some new decoration to a j^lat, adds 
to or leaves off some ingredient, and christens it with 
a different name. 

The treatise of Beauvilliers has been pronounced 
by authorities one of the best on the subject. The 
style is direct, his menu varied and yet not over-ornate, 
and his formularies, founded on long experience, even 
yet denote a superior hand. There can be compara- 
tively little trouble in following many of his recipes, 
they are so precise — save some of his sauces and cer- 
tain grand dishes, these calling for preparatory Es- 
pagnoles, veloutes, Bechainels, and Allejnandes, and 
a larder beyond the reach of the ordinary cook. There 
are nimierous dishes, of course, that one may not pro- 
cure at home, however deft the presiding genius. One 
cannot have a constant stock of elaborate preparatory 
sauces, truffles, cockscombs, Chablis, or champagne 
to draw from for a single dish, when desired, without 
very considerable outlay or waste. A grand sauce, a 
salmon a la Chamhord, or an elaborate entree requires 
the appurtenances of a restaurant or a club where 
cookery is conducted on an extensive scale by a pro- 
fessional, though this by no means implies that a din- 
ner beyond criticism may not be served at one's own 
home. 

Early in the nineteenth century Berchoux published 
his "Gastronomic," and Grimod de la Reyniere ap- 

72 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

peared as the versatile author of the "Ahnanach des 
Gourmands." By this time cookery was fully able to 
take care of itself, irrespective of royalty or titled 
patrons, and the "Almanach" became its greatest 
oracle and promoter. 

Before referring to the "Almanach," which claims 
a chapter by itself, a word should be said of Ber- 
choux's poetical treatise, the first edition of which ap- 
peared in 1801. Recalling Gentil Bernard's "I'Art 
d Aimer" in its scope and spirit, this tribute to the 
tenth muse has been termed one of the most ingenious 
productions of light French poetry. Free from the 
grossness that characterises so many French works on 
the subject, it touches lightly, comprehensively, and 
entertainingly upon the theme. It was soon trans- 
lated into numerous languages, and many of its pre- 
cepts have become proverbial. The advice throughout 
is excellent, but, as it was observed to the author at 
the time, "You are all alike, messieurs the poets, you 
say admirable things; but it is impossible to carry them 
out." 

After passing in review the table of the ancients, 
and censuring their intemperance and gluttony, the 
author advises the reader who would live contentedly to 
choose his residence in Auvergne or La Bresse, under 
whose favourable skies he may procure everything 
tliat ministers to the pleasures of the table : 

"Voulez-vous reussir dans Part que je prof esse? 
Ayez un bon chateau dans 1' Auvergne ou La Bresse, 
Ou pres des lieux charmants d'ou Lyon voit passer 
Deux fleuves amoureux tout prets a s'embrasser. 
73 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Vous vous procurerez, sous ce ciel favorable, 
Tout ce qui peut servir aux douceurs de la table." 

A good cook at once becomes the great desideratum — 
an artist whom one may bless after having partaken 
of the courses he has served, an officer wlio will cause 
one's table to be envied by all who have shared its 
good cheer, a seneschal of grave mien and imposing 
presence, conscientious in his work, prolific in re- 
sources, and proud of his art, — 

". . . qui d'un air important, 
Aupres de son fourneau que la flamme illumine, 
Donne avec dignite des lois dans sa cuisine." 

The interior of the kitchen while the dinner is being 
prepared is next portrayed with the skill of an Ostade. 
The charcoal glows, the spits turn merrily, the lus- 
trous copper of the saucepans and kettles catches the 
ruddy light of tlie flames. The gravies simmer, and 
the fowls take on a golden' hue. All is excitement, but 
an excitement tempered by perfect order and har- 
mony. In the midst, surrounded by his subalterns, 
to whom he issues his commands, stands the chef — im- 
passible, majestic, serene — like a general on the eve 
of a decisive battle : 

"Tel on voit, au moment d'une sanglante affaire, 
Un prudent general mesurer la carriere. 
Son courage tranquille et sa noble fierte 
Commandent I'esperance et la securite. 
La foule I'environne et presse son armure, 
D'un trouble involontaire il entend le murmure ; 
Peut-etre un peu d'effroi s'cst glisse dans son sein, 
Mais son visage est calme, et son front serein." 

74 



THE REXAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

The pictures he has drawn of the dinner and its ser- 
vice, and his counsels regarding moderation and so- 
briety, are equally felicitous. Though he himself was 
no Sybarite, but, like Savarin, was only a gourmand 
when he had his pen in hand, he is none the less severe 
on the dietarians : 

"En sc privant de tout, ils pensent sc guerir, 
Et se donncnt la mort par la pcur dc niourir." 

Nor has he failed to extol the virtues of exercise, 
that most potent abettor of health and aid to enjoy- 
ment : 

"D'un noble appetit munissez-vous d'avance, 
Sans lui vous gemircz au sein dc I'abondance; 
II est un nioj^en sur d'acquerir ce trcsor : 
L'exercise, messieurs, et I'excrcisc encore : 
Allez tous les matins sur les pas de Diane, 
Armes d'un long fusil ou d'une sarbacane, 
Epicr le canard au bord de vos marais ; 
Allez lancer la biche au milieu des forets ; 
Poursuivez le chevreuil s'elan9ant dans la plaine; 
Suivez vos chiens ardents que leur courage entraine. 
Partagez sans rougir de champetres travaux, 
Et ne dedaignez pas ou la beche ou la faux." 

It were in vain to look for a better dining-room 
motto than his precept : 

"Rien ne doit deranger I'honnete honnne qui dine ;" ^ 
or his hygienic maxim : 

"Jouissez lentement, et que rien ne vous presse." 

1 D^fendez que personnc, au milieu d'un banquet, 
Ne vous Vienna donner un avis indiscret ; 
Ecartez ce facheux qui vers vous s'aeliemine— 
Rien ne doit de'ranfyer I'honnete homiine qui dine. 

7.) 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Like good wine, his canto has not lost its fragrance 
through age, and those who read it will almost be in- 
clined to doubt the truth of the concluding line : 

"Un poeme ne valut jamais un diner — " 

iHiless it be a dine?' scms fa^on, which he has not failed 
to condemn. 

Of other tributes in verse to gastronomy, Colnet's 
"I'Art de Diner en Ville" ^ is the next important, but 
this is by no means to be compared with the canto of 
Berchoux. And though the language abounds in 
minor poems on the subject, few of these may be con- 
sidered seriously, while nearly all offend by their 
grossness or their halting measures. 

Napoleon Bonaparte was not an epicure, though he 
enjoined upon all the great functionaries of the em- 
pire to set a good table. He was in constant dread of 
growing obese as he became old, was proverbially 
irregular in his hours of eating, and rushed his food 
as he would a battalion on the battle-field. His re- 
pasts concerned him little so long as they were served 
the instant his appetite craved, and were accompanied 
by his favoiu'ite Chambertin. 

Differing from Napoleon, the eighteenth Louis 
proved himself a fin jnangeur and a worthy gastro- 
nomic successor to Louis XV. It was his custom, for 
instance, to have his chops and cutlets broiled not only 
on the grill, but between two other cutlets, in order 
to preserve their juices. His ortolans and small birds 

^ L' Art de diner en ville a rusag:e eorrigee. Paris, Delaunay; Colnet, 
des gens de Icttres, poeme en iv 1810. 
chants. Seconde edition revue et 

76 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

were also cooked inside of partridges stuffed ^\'ith 
truffles, so that he often hesitated in choosing between 
the deHcate bird and the fragrant esculent. The orto- 
lan was termed by him la bouchce du gourmand, as it 
was never to be eaten in two mouthfuls. He had even 
established a testing- jury for the fruit that w^as served 
at the royal table, INI. Petit-Radel, librarian of the 
Institute, being the tester of peaches and nectarines. 

One day a new" variety of peach produced by a 
gardener of jNIontreuil having matured, the raiser was 
anxious to submit it to the king. To do this, however, 
it was necessary to pass the Jury degustateur. Ac- 
cordingly, he presented himself at the library of the 
Institute, and, holding in his hand a plate of four 
magnificent peaches, he inquired for the librarian. 
On being informed that he was busily engaged on 
some very important work, the gardener insisted, ask- 
ing only that he be allowed to pass the plate, the 
fruit, and his arm through the door. Arrested by the 
partial opening of the door, ]M. Petit-Radel raised 
his eyes from a Gothic manuscript he was studying, 
to discover the peaches and to exclaim twice, with em- 
phasis, "Come in! Come in!" 

Then, explaining the object of his visit, the gar- 
dener asked for a silver knife, and, quartering a peach, 
offered one of the portions to the tester, with these 
words: 

"Taste the juice." 

With half -shut eyes and impassible features, INI. 
Radel tasted the juice. 

"Good, very good, my friend," was his only re- 
mark, after a minute's silence. 
77 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Whereupon the gardener tendered him the second 
quarter, saying in a more assured tone: 

"Taste the flesh." 

Again the judge proceeded with his testing, main- 
taining a similar silence, until, with an inclination of 
his head, he remarked : 

"Ah! very good! very good!" 

"Now savour the aroma," said the gardener. 

On this heing found worthy of the juices and the 
flesh, the gardener presented the last morsel. 

"Now," said he, "taste all!" 

Then, with eyes humid with emotion and a radiant 
smile upon his lips, M. Radel advanced towards his 
visitor, and, seizing his hands with the same fervour 
that he would have manifested in the case of a great 
artist, he exclaimed : 

"Ah, my friend, the peach is perfection itself! You 
are to be profoundly complimented, and after to-mor- 
row your peaches will be served at the royal table." 

And, carefully removing its three companions from 
the plate, the gardener was ushered out and the 
peaches placed by the side of the Gothic manuscript. 

During the last years of the reign of Louis XVIII, 
it was with regret that he perceived signs of the deca- 
dence of cookery. "Gastronomy is passing," were his 
words to Dr. Corvisart, "and with it the last remains 
of the old civilisation. It belongs to organised bodies, 
such as physicians, to direct all their energies towards 
preventing the disruption of society. Formerly 
France was filled with gastronomers because it num- 
bered so many corporations, the members of which 
have been annihilated or dispersed. There are now 

78 



THE RENAISSANCE OF COOKERY 

no more farmer-generals, no more abbes, no more 
monks: the life of gastronomy resides in physicians 
like you, who are epicures by predestination. It is for 
you to bear with still greater firmness the weight with 
which you are laden by destiny. May you wipe out 
the fate of the Spartans at the pass of Thermopylae!" 
But the cry of the decadence of cookery is an an- 
cient one, and occurs periodically, like that of the 
failure of vintages. It has always existed, and al- 
ways M'ill exist. It is the old burden, with Ronsard's 
modification : 

"Le temps s'cn va, le temps s'en va, ma dame ; 
Las ! Ic temps non, mais nous nous en-allons." 

(Time hast'neth on, time hast'neth on, my dear; 
Nay, Time doth stay, and we the journey ers here.) 

Age and circumstances, surroundings and lack of 
hygienic observances, may dull the susceptibility of 
the most appreciative palate; the sense of taste also 
has its decrepitude. Celebrated chefs pass away, and 
with them passes the celebrity of famous restaurants. 
But other artists appear, and fresh successes are 
achieved — 

"Thus times do shift, each thing his turn does hold ; 

New things succeed as former things grow old." ^ 

1 Herrick, "Hesperides." 



79 




OLD ENGLISH DISHES 



In the "kle time, 



Wlien Beefe, Bread & Beeve, 
Was honest mens clieere, 

and welcome and spare not ; 
And John and his Joane, 
Did live of their ovviie, 

full merily. thoiiath but all meanely. " 
CoBBES Prophei'ies, His Signes and Tokens, 1614 



THE main attraction of the very early English 
cook-book, it must be confessed, is its rarity, to 
which may be added its quaint title-page and fore- 
word, and sometimes its frontispiece and wood-cuts. 
No new salads will be discovered in its repertory 
to tempt the epicure, or few dishes that will pro- 
voke his appetite. The text is usually difficult to 
interpret, and, beyond singular alimentary mixtures 
which attest the remarkable receptive qualities of 
our forefathers, it contains little to interest the aver- 

80 




FIKST OF SKPTEMBKK 
From the engraving after A. Cooper, 



R.A. 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

age reader. In this respect it differs largely from 
the olden works on gardening, through whose leaves 
still wantons the breeze of June, and chaffinch, cushat, 
and throstle sing. The fact is, it requires a master to 
render even a modern culinar}^ treatise entertaining; 
the majority of ancient cook-books are for the most 
part mere curiosities. There is no Andrew Marvell 
of eating, or Parkinson of dining. "The reflection 
that appreciates, applied to the science that improves," 
as M. de Borose lias aptly defined gastronomy, is a 
comparatively recent product, an outcome of advance- 
ment and civilising influences, and therefore it is 
hardly to be looked for in primitive compilations. 

A poetical cook-book might have been composed by 
Walton had he devoted as much attention to the sauce- 
pans as he did to the rod; for the "Compleat Angler" 
shows him to have been fond of a good repast as it 
was then understood, even to preparing the fish him- 
self with the limited conveniences available at the 
Thatched House. As it is, some of his numerous re- 
cipes and his allusions to barley-wine are poetical in 
an eminent degree, and cause one to regret that he is 
not also the author of a "Compleat Housewife." No 
modern, it is true, would wish to experiment with his 
prescripts for cooking trout and chavender, unless by 
proxy; like most of the recipes of the olden school, 
they are infinitely more amusing to read than they 
would prove pleasing to savour. 

Earliest of the English works on cookery is Alex- 
ander Neckam's "De Utensilibus, or Treatise on 
Utensils," written at the close of the twelfth century, 
two hundred years anterior to the introduction of 
81 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

parsley in flavouring. In this treatise, which purports 
to instruct young liousekeepers in maintaining a well- 
ordered establishment, Latin and Norman French 
are the languages almost exclusively employed. Of 
other very old works may be enumerated "The Forme 
of Cury," with its one hundred and ninety-six recipes, 
compiled by the chief cooks of Richard II ; the "Liber 
Cure Cocorum" ; the "Kalendare de Potages dyuers 
and Leche Metys," dating about 1430; John Russell's 
"Boke of Nurture," composed about 1450; "The No- 
ble Boke of Cookry," first printed in 1500; "The Boke 
of Keruynge," or Book of Carving, a small manual 
printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1508; and the "Via 
Recta ad Vitam Longam," or The Right Way to 
Long Life, of Tobias Venner, a physician of Shake- 
speare's time. Over any and all of these, some of 
which exist only in manuscript, the student may burn 
the midnight oil ; black-letter Chaucer being easy sail- 
ing compared with the breakers of old cookery books. 
Much of the so-called scientific cookery of early Eng- 
land was French, though many of the French titles 
become strangely perverted and are frequently diffi- 
cult to recognise; as, for instance, "let" for lait, "vy- 
aunt" for viande, "fryit," for froide, "sauke" for 
sauce, etc. The first works that may be termed Eng- 
lish date only from the latter half of the seventeenth 
century. 

The English, four and five hundred years ago, had 
four meals daily, — breakfast at seven, dinner at ten, 
supper at four, and livery at eight. Since then, from 
an early hour in the morning the principal daily meal 
has advanced equally in France and England through 

82 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

every hour from ten in the forenoon until ten at night. 
In France in the thirteenth century nine in the morn- 
ing was the dinner-hour. Henrj^ VII dined at eleven. 
In Cromwell's time, one o'clock had come to be the 
fashionable hour, and in Addison's day two o'clock, 
which gradually became adjourned until four. Pope 
found fault with Lady Suffolk for dining so late as 
four, saying young people might become inured to 
such things, but as for himself, if she would adopt 
such unreasonable practices he must absent himself 
from Marble Hill. Four and five continued to be the 
popular dining-hour among the better classes until the 
second decade of the century, when dinner was fiu'ther 
postponed, from which period it has steadily contin- 
ued to encroach upon the evening. 

The strong stomach of the early Briton, fortified 
by abundant out-of-door exercise, was proof against 
dyspepsia, and was enabled to digest the coarsest and 
most strongly seasoned foods. Whale, porpoise, seal, 
and grampus were common dishes. Besides such sea- 
sonings as ginger, cinnamon, galingale, cloves, garlic, 
and vinegar, copiously used in preparations where 
they would seem most incongruous, ale was generously 
emploj^ed. Almond-milk was also a common ingre- 
dient, while marrow was in great favour. Of bread- 
stuff's the fifteenth century had an abundant variety, 
— j^ain-main, or bread of very fine flour, wheat-bread, 
barley-meal bread, bran-bread, pease-bread, oat-bread 
or oat-cakes, hard-bread, and unleavened bread. The 
poor often used a mixture of rye, lentils, and oatmeal, 
varied according to the season and district. 

The author of the "Book of Nurture" describes him- 
83 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

self as usher and marshal to Humphrey, Duke of 
Gloucester, delighting in his work and desirous of 
training worthy successors in the mysteries of man- 
aging a well-appointed household : 

"An vsshere y Am | yc may beholde | to a pryncc of highe 
degre, 
that cnioyethc to in forme Sz tcchc | allc tho that will thrive & 
thee." 

This exordium is followed by minute directions for 
carving meats, fish, and fowls; rules for general be- 
haviour; a disquisition on wines, meats, soups, and 
sauces; a recipe for hippocras; hints to the chamber- 
lain, butler, taster, dinner arranger, etc. The work 
is both ambitious and elaborate, thoroughly covering 
the subject as it was comprehended by the writer's 
predecessors and his own inventive genius. A passage 
or two from the chapters headed "Diuerce Sawces" 
and "Sawce for Fische" will give one an idea of the 
style of his treatise: 

"Also to know 3'oure sa\\'ce,s for flesche conveniently, 
hit provokitlie a fyne apetide if sawce youre meat be ble; 
to the lust of youre lord look that ye haue ther redy 
suche sawce as hym likcthe | to make him glad & niery. 

"Mustard is meete f br brawne | beef or powdred motoun ; 
verdius to boyled capoun | vcel | chikcn | or bakon ; 
And to signet | & swan, convenyant is the chawdon, 
Roost beefF | & goos | with garlek, vinegre, or pepur, in con- 
clusioun. 

84 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

"Gynger sawce to lambc, to kyd | piggc, or fawn | in fcrc; 
to feysand, partriche, or cony | mustard with the sugurc ; 
Sawce gamelyn to heyron-sewe | egret | crane | & ploverc ; 
also I brewe | Curlew | sugre & salt | with watere of the 
ryvere. . . ." 

It will be seen from this brief extract that Russell's 
larder was in no wise wanting for the gustatory enter- 
tainment of his lordship, his resources being yet more 
apparent in the chapter relative to the proper sauces 
for fish : 

" Yowre sawces to make y shalle geue yow lerynge : 
Mustard | is nietest with allc maner salt herynge, 
Salt fysche, salt Congur, samoun, with sparlynge, 
Salt ele, salt makerelle, & also withe merlynge. 

"Vynegur is good to salt purpose & torrentyne, 
Salt sturgeon, salt swyrd-fysche savery & fyne. 
Salt Thurlepolle, salt whale, is good with egre wyne. 
Withe powdur put ther-on shalle cawse oon welle to dyne. 

"Playce with wyne ; & pike withe his refFett ; 
the galant3'ne for the lamprey | where they may be gete ; 
verdius to roclie | darce | breme | soles | & molett ; 
Baase, flowndurs | Carpe | Cheven | Synamome ye ther-to 
sett. . . ." 

la like manner, the first page or introduction to 
"The Boke of Keruynge" will present at a glance 
many of the forms of food that were in use at the 
time, especial reference being made to the terms 
employed by the English carver. The writer attacks 
his subject boldly — much as an old angling-master 
85 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 



describes a trout rushing for the pahner-fly at night 
— and is apparently thoroughly acquainted with his 
important function : 

U Here begynneth the boke of Keruynge and sewynge | and 
all the feestes in the yore, for the seruyce of a prynce or ony 
other estate, as ye shall fynde cche offyce, the seruyce aceord- 
ynge, in this boke folowyngc. 

H Terms of a Kerucr 



Breke that dere 

lesche yt brawne 

rere that goose 

lyft that swanne 

sauce that capon 

spoyle that henne 

frusshe that chekyn 

vnbrace that malarde 

vnlace that cony 

dysmember that heron 

dysplaye that crane 

dysfygure that pecocke 

vnioynt that bytture 

vntache that curlewe 

alaye that fesande 

wynge that partryche 

wynge that quayle 

my nee that plouer 

thye that pegyon 

border that pasty 

thye that wodcocke 

thye all maner of small byrdes 



tymbre that fyre 

tyere that egge 

chyne that samon 

strynge that lampraye 

splatte that pyke 

sauce that playce 

sauce that tenche 

splay that breme 

syde that haddocke 

tuske that barbell 

culpon that troute 

fynne that ch(?uen 

traussene that ele 

traunche that sturgyon 

vndertraunche yt purpos 

tayme that crabbe 

barbe that lopster 

H Here hendeth the goodly 

termes. 
H Here begynneth 
Butler and 
Panter. 



On tlie title-page of the volume is a picture of two 
ladies and two gentlemen at dinner, with an attendant 

86 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

bringing a dish, two servants at a side-table, and a 
jester. The dish was doubtless well spiced with gin- 
ger, and washed down with malmsey, clarrey, or ren- 
ysshe wine, if not with ypocras or some other potent 
liquid accompaniment. 

The expressions "vnbrace that malarde" and "dys- 
member that heron" assure one that a wild fowl, how- 
ever coriaceous, must have quickly succumbed to the 
manipulation of his glittering steel. In no form of 
carving, whether of meats, poultry, or game, does the 
skill of the carver appear to greater advantage than 
in disjointing wild fowl. This indeed calls for a 
trenchant blade and a thoroughly competent practi- 
tioner. Witness the artist who follows every joint and 
ligament as a stream follows its varying curves, and 
who lays out the rosy breast just as if it had stopped 
beating in its flight. The ghosts of many a mallard, 
broad-bill, and teal must quake in horror when they 
remember the fate that awaited their earthly lot after 
their course had been checked by the fowler and they 
fell into hands unworthy to conduct their post-mor- 
tem. But the duck has been avenged by an anony- 
mous bard who has execrated the ruthless matador as 
he deserves : 

"We all look on witli anxious eyes 
When father carves the duck. 
And mother almost always sighs 
When father carves the duck. 
Then all of us prepare to rise 
And hold our bibs before our eyes 
And he prepared for some surprise 
When father carves the duck. 
87 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"He braces up and grabs a fork 

Whene'er he carves a duck, 
And won't allow a soul to talk 

Until he 's carved the duck. 
The fork is jabbed into the sides, 
Across the breast the knife he slides, 
And every careful person hides 

From flying chips of duck. 

"The platter always seems to slip 

When father carves a duck, 
And how it makes the dishes skip, 

Potatoes fly amuck — 
The squash and cabbage leap in space. 
We get some gravy on our face, 
And father mutters Hindu grace • 

Whene'er he carves a duck. 

"We thus have learned to walk around 

The dining-room, and pluck. 
From off^ the window-sills and walls 

Our share of father's duck ; 
While father growls and blows and jaws, 
And swears the knife was full of flaws. 
And mother jaws at him because 

He could n't carve a duck." 

In the "Kalendare de Potages dyuers" appears this 
recipe for A goos in liogepotte: "Take a Goos, & make 
hure clene, & hacke hyre to gobettys, & put yn a potte, 
& Water to, & sethe togederys; than take Pepir & 
Brennyd brede or Blode y-boylyd, & grynd y-fere 
G\aigere h Galyngale & Coniyn, & temper vppe with 
Ale, and putte it ther-to; & mynce Oynonys, & frye 

88 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

hem in freysshe grece, & do ther-to a porcyon of 
Wyne." 

A strange entremets was one termed Vyolette, ac- 
companied by these directions: "Take Flourys of 
Vyolet, boyle hem, presse hem, bray hem smal, tem- 
per hem vppe with Almaunde mylke, or gode Cowe 
JMylke, a-lye it with Amyndown or Flowre of Rys; 
take Sugre 3^-now, an putte ther-to, or hony in de- 
faute; coloure it with the same that the flowrys be on 
y'peynted a-boue." 

That excellent dish civet of hare was termed Harys 
in Cyueye, saffron, ale, and vinegar being then util- 
ised in its preparation. Pain perdu figured as Payn 
pur-dew, and may have been as useful then as now for 
a simple dessert where a saving of time and material 
entered into consideration, the olden recipe being not 
unlike that of modern times. Oysters are presented 
as Oystres in cevey, Oystres in grauey bastard, and 
Oystres in bruette. There are also Fylettys en Galen- 
tyne, Lange Wortys de chare, Blamanger of Fysshe, 
Ruschewys of Marw, Pety j^ermantes, Chawettys 
a-forsed, Flathonys, and similar curious compounds. 
INIeat- and fish-pies were known by the French appel- 
lation "crustade," the favourite English pork-pie 
being apparently unfamiliar to very olden writers, or 
else so disguised as to be unrecognisable. 

Boar-pies were known, however, in Elizabeth's era, 
when they were esteemed a great dainty. A consign- 
ment of these, it is related, was sent by Sir Robert 
Sydney, while governor of Flushing in The Hague, to 
his wife as a bait to propitiate the ministers to grant 
him a leave of absence. The pies were duly presented 
89 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

by I^ady Sydney to Lord Essex and my Lord Treas- 
urer, and proved so excellent that the next time the 
petition of Sir Robert was presented to her Majesty 
the secretary knelt down, beseeching her to hear him 
in behalf of her homesick ambassador, and to license 
his return for six weeks. It is probable that the queen 
herself did not share in the presents, inasmuch as she 
remained obdurate to the pleadings of the ministers 
and the ladies of the court. 

Under the rule of Elizabeth, fish formed an impor- 
tant article of diet, statute laws being established for 
their consumption, with heavy penalties to the of- 
fender — a measure adopted for the better maintenance 
of shipping interests and the lesser consumption of 
flesh food. Besides the usual Lenten obligations to 
Neptune, Friday and Saturday of each week were ad- 
ditionally set apart for fish days, an alimentary com- 
pulsion which soon became extremely distasteful. 

Numerous bills of fare of banquets are given in the 
"Kalendare," including that of the coronation of 
Henry IV and the banquet of his second marriage in 
14<04. It would appear that the ecclesiasts were 
among the most princely entertainers, as evidenced by 
the bills of fare of the feast of Richard Fleming, 
Bishop of I^incoln ; a dinner given by John Chandler, 
Bishop of Salisbury; an entertainment held in 1424 
on the occasion of the funeral of Nicholas Bubwith, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells; and several others. In 
point of variety these feasts might rank with those 
of ancient Rome. Venison, boar's head, veal, oxen, 
and various pieces of roast figure in the courses. 
Among the birds and wild fowl were capons, herons, 

90 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

cranes, peacocks, swans, pheasants, and wild geese, 
together with innumerable smaller kinds, such as 
plover, fieldfares, partridges, quail, snipe, teal, cur- 
lew, woodcock, and larks. But the elaborate banquet 
where as many as a hundred and four peacocks dressed 
in their plumage were included among the "subtle- 
ties" was by no means a common occurrence, and the 
accounts of these entertainments, together with the 
lavish festivities of Christmas, should not be accepted 
as a criterion of the usual mode of English living 
among the wealthy. The division line between the 
rich and the poor, besides, was far more marked than 
at present, and it is questionable whether even the 
higher classes, despite their occasional excessive prodi- 
gality, maintained the same luxurious state of service 
the year round as their modern successors. 

The many carols on the boar's head and on ale which 
have come down to us from old ]MSS. show in what 
request the one stood as a viand and the other as a 
beverage. At certain seasons it was the habitual cus- 
tom to serve a particular dish first, as a boar's head 
at Christmas, — 

"Furst set forthe mustard & brawnc of boore, the wild 
swyne," — 

a goose at INIichaelmas, and a gammon of bacon at 
Easter. The boar's head was set upon its neck upon 
the platter, with an apple or a lemon in its mouth and 
sprigs of rosemary in its ears and nose, the platter 
being additionally decorated with garlands. Thus 
garnished and heralded by trumpets, it was borne to 
the king's table on a sah'er of gold or silver by the 
91 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

server, followed by a procession of nobles, knights, 
and ladies. In Scotland it was sometimes brought to 
table surrounded by banners displaying the colours 
and achievements of the baron at whose board it was 
served. From time immemorial the double loin or 
baron of beef has been a royal dish, and one especially 
selected is always sent from Windsor to Osborne to 
appear at the dinner-table, accompanied by that other 
Christmas dish, the boar's head, sent of late from Ger- 
many. The oldest carol on the boar's head is prob- 
ably that of the Balliol MS., of which there are nu- 
merous versions: 

^^ Caput Apri Refero 
Resonens laudes domino. 
The boris lied In hondis I brynge 
with garlondis gay & byrdis syngynge : 
I pray you all helpe me to synge. 
Qui estis in convinio. 

"The boris hedc, I understonde, 
ys chefFe seruyce in all this londe: 
wher-so-ever it may be fonde, 
Seruitur cum sinapio. 

"The boris hede, I dare well say, 
anon after the xijth day 
he taketh his leve and goth a-way. 
Exiuit tunc de patria.^^ 

An olden Christmas feast wherein the wild boar 
forms the piece de resistance is also figured in King's 
"Art of Cookery," the only English work except 

92 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

"The Philosopher's Banquet," by "W. B.," that has 
discoursed on gastronomy to anj^ considerable extent 
in verse : 

"At Christmas time be careful of your fame ; 
See tlie old tenant's table be the same. 
Then if you would send up the brawner's head, 
Sweet rosemary and bays around it spread ! 
His foaming tusks let some large pippin grace, 
Or midst tliose thund'ring spears an orange place. 
Sauce like liimself, offensive to its foes, 
The roguish mustard, dang'rous to the nose. 
Sack and the well spiced Hippocras the wine, 
Wassail the bowl with ancient ribbands fine. 
Porridge with plumbs, and turkeys with the chine." 

The seventeenth century was prolijfic of cook-books, 
most of which continued to republish the ancient re- 
cipes, with but slight augmentations or changes. 
Many of the old-fashioned dishes still appear in "The 
Art of Cookery Refined and Augmented," a treatise 
published in 1654 by Joseph Cooper, former kitchener 
of Charles I. These indigestibilities abound in "The 
English Housewife" of Gervaise Markham, an early 
production of the century, which reached its eighth 
edition in 1675, "much augmented, purged, and made 
most profitable and necessary for all men, and the 
general good of this Nation." ^ 

It may be assumed that Markham's recipes were 
not original with him, but were compiled mostly from 
anterior woi'ks; we have no knowledge of his having 

^ The Enf?lish housewife; contain- Woman; as to her skill in Physicke, 
in^ the inward and outward Vertues Cookery, Ordering of Great Feasts, 
which ought to be in a corapieat etc., etc. London, 1631. 

93 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

been a practical cook. For that matter, he states in 
his dedication to the Countess Dowager of Exeter that 
he does not "assume to himself the full invention and 
scope of the work, for it is true that much of it was a 
manuscript which many years agone belonged to an 
Honourable Countess, one of the greatest Glories of 
our Kingdom." The material, therefore, is due mainly 
to a member of the gentler sex, while INIarkham is 
responsible for the liaison. A voluminous author, he 
did not hesitate to appropriate whatever material he 
could find on any topic, more especially on husbandry 
and angling, and send it out as his own. It is well 
known, for example, that his "Art of Fishing" in his 
"Country Contentments" is only a prose rendition of 
Dennys' attractive poem "The Secrets of Angling." 
He has been spoken of as the first hack writer of 
England, all subjects seeming to have been alike to 
him. So that "The English Housewife," Avhich also 
includes much interesting information on physics, the 
dairy, etc., may be regarded as virtually a work of the 
Eliza])ethan period. 

In JSIarkham's treatise there is a sauce for green- 
geese and one for stubble-geese, a sauce for pigeons 
and stock-doves, a gallantine for bitterns, bustards, 
and herns. A quelquechose was a fricassee or a mix- 
ture of many ingredients, and meats broiled upon the 
coals were termed carbonadoes. Verjuice was made 
from crab-apples, to which damask-rose leaves were 
added previous to fermentation. Vinegar was fre- 
quently made from ale placed in the sun to sour, and 
flavoured with leaves of damask roses. A recipe for 
hippocras is naturally given, together with directions 

94 



X H F 

ENGLIS H 

Houfe-Wife, 

C O N T A I N G 

The inward and outward Vermes which 
ought to be in a Compleat Woman* 

As her Skill in Phyfick^, Chncrgery^ Cookery ^ ExtraQioM of Oylt^ 
Banqueting jhiff^ Ordenyig of great Feafis, Prejcrving cfaJlfartef 
Wides^ concetted S,ecretx^'Dijitllatians^ Ftrftvies^ Ordering of /^o*/ 
f/fwp. Flax: Making Clotb and Vywgh The knowledge of 
Vayrtes : Office of Malting , of Oatt, their excellent ufes in Fa- 
milies : 0{Bren>ing, Bakjng^ and all other things belonging to an 
Houdiold. 

A W^(9r^ generally approved^ and now the 

Eighth tin»c much Augmerncd, Purged, and made moft 
profi'ablcand nectflary for ajimcoj and the general good 
of ihis NATION. 

By G. Marl^am. 



L O N D O N, 

Printed for George Sawhrid^^'^ at the Sign oi \h^ BiHt on. 
Luii&le HilU 1^7). 

THE ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE 
Facsimile of title-page 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

for the manufacture of all manner of wines and bev- 
erages. Puddings, pies, and tarts were still more fa- 
miliar then than now. Of pies there was an infinite 
assortment — from Olave, marrow-bone, hare, chicken, 
bacon, herring, ling, and calves'-foot to oyster, chewet, 
Warden, pippin, Codlin, and minc'd. Markham's 
recipe for "A Herring Pye" will serve as well as any 
to illustrate the character of the amalgams that passed 
under the names of pies, puddings, and tarts : 

"^ Herring Pye: — Take white pickled Herrings of one 
night's watering, and boyl them a little, then take off the skin, 
and take only the backs of them, and pick the fish clean from 
the bones ; then take good store of Raisins of the sun, and 
stone them ; and put them to the Fish ; then take a Warden 
or two, and pare it, and slice it in small slices from the 
core, and put it likewise to the fish ; then with a very sharp 
shredding Knife shred all as small and fine as may be: then 
put to it good store of Currants, Sugar, Cinnamon, slic't 
Dates, and so put it into the coffin, with good store of sweet 
Butter, and so cover it, and leave onely a round vent-hole 
on the top of the lid, and so bake it like Pics of that nature. 
When it is sufficiently bak't, draw it out, and take Claret 
Wine, and a little Verjuyce, Sugar, Cinnamon, and sweet 
Butter, and boyl them together: then put it in at the vent-hole, 
and shake the Pye a little, and put it again into the Oven for 
a little space, and so serve it up, the lid being candied over 
with Sugar, and the sides of the dish trimmed with Sugar." 

But many recipes are given in the cook-books, both 

in the old and the new, which the wise reader will 

avoid, and perchance ^larkham's herring-pie was 

among the number. It were pleasanter, at any rate, 

95 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

to take John Fletcher's prescription for some contem- 
poraneous dishes, where, after he would have "the j^ig 
turn merrily, merrily, ah! and let the fat goose swim," 
he exclaims : 

"The stewed cock shall crow, cock-a-loodle loo, 
A loud cock-a-loodlc shall he crow ; 
The duck and the drake shall swim in a lake 
Of onions and claret below." 

The wines and beverages of old corresponded to 
many of the dishes themselves; which of these was 
most productive of indigestion it were difficult to state. 
Hippocras, so generously indulged in, not to mention 
posset, mead, metheglin, and perry, must have been a 
potent factor in fomenting the uric-acid diathesis. 
When to these common beverages are added the fiery, 
heavy, sweet, and mixed wines that were in general 
use, it is scarcely surprising that the seeds of gout 
were sown broadcast, and that the indiscretions of the 
fathers were visited upon the children unto the exist- 
ing generation. Even JNIilton did not escape, while 
Spenser, Sir William Temple, and a host of worthies 
who were supposed to be abstemious in their diet were 
victims to arthritic complaints. How Shakespeare 
eluded the malady seems a miracle, in view of the ex- 
isting viands and beverages and the necessary lack 
of exercise attendant on his literary pursuits. Alex- 
ander Neckham, in his twelfth-century treatise, men- 
tions clare and nectar as proper to be found in the 
cellar or in the storehouse. Clare was a mixture of 
clear red wine, the best of which came from Guyenne, 
with honey, sugar, and spices, as distinguished from 

96 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

piment or nectar, a similar compound, but with more 
substance, founded on the red wine of Burgundy, 
Dauphine, etc. 

In ancient days the taste was for "strong, sharp, 
and full-flavoured" wines. Bordeaux, or "claret," as 
it is now made was unknown. Vitification and vinifi- 
cation were then undeveloped compared with the pres- 
ent time. In place of the existing delicate growths 
of the ^ledoc were the fiery wines of Guyenne and 
Gascony and the heavy products of Provence and 
Languedoc. It is to be supposed, likewise, that the 
Rhenish wines at that time were totally different from 
those of the Rheingau and the Bavarian Palatinate 
now. But the kinds mostly in vogue were sack and 
malmsey, muscadel and canary, and "bastard" or 
malaga, port as yet not having been introduced into 
England. 

The punch-bowl or wassail-bowl, the goddard, 
caudle-cup and posset-pot, were all in use in England 
in olden days — punch, or "pauch," however, being a 
drink of Indian origin, the word meaning five, and so 
named from its five ingredients: arrack, tea, sugar, 
lemon- juice, and water. Grog is an English beverage 
of later introduction. Admiral Vernon, in 1745, hav- 
ing put an end to the use by the English navy of ale, 
substituted for it rum diluted with water. The ad- 
miral was dubbed by the sailors "Old Grog," because 
of an old cloak of grogram which he always wore in 
foul weather, and hence it came naturally about that 
the new potation of the high seas acquired its present 
name. 

INIead, the favourite tipple of Queen Bess, was made 
97 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

by boiling honey and water together, with quantities 
of spices, herbs, and lemons; when it had stood for 
three months, the liquor was bottled and was ready 
to drink six weeks afterwards. Butler, in "The Femi- 
nine JNIonarchy, or History of Bees," draws a distinc- 
tion between mead and metheglin, making hydromel 
the generic term. In the old cookery books and 
"Housewives" we find directions how to make strong 
Mead and small White Mead. Artificial Frontignac 
wine was made by boiling water, sugar, and rai- 
sins together, adding elder-flowers, syrup of lem- 
ons, and ale yeast. "English Champagne" was com- 
posed of water, sugar, and currants boiled, with the 
addition of balm; and, when bottled, a small Imiip 
of double-refined, sugar was used to impart eflPerves- 
cence. In a somewhat similar manner numerous other 
forms of wine were compounded, as Saragossa or 
English Sack, Quince, IMountain, Plum, Birch, and 
Sage. Perhaps the most bizarre of all ancient concoc- 
tions is one termed "Cock Ale," for which this recipe 
is presented in E. Smith's "Compleat Housewife" 
(1736): 

"To make Cock Ale: — Take ten gallons of ale, and a large 
cock, the older the better, parboil the cock, flea liini, and stamp 
him in a stone mortar till his bones are broken, (3^ou must 
craw and gut him when you flea him) put the cock into two 
quarts of sack, and put to it three pounds of raisins of the 
sun stoned, some blades of mace, and a few clo^'cs ; put all these 
into a canvas bag, and a little before you find the ale has done 
working, put the ale and bag together into a vessel ; in a 
week or nine days' time bottle it up, fill the bottles but just 
above the necks, and leave the same time to ripen as other ale." 

98 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

A notable advance in the art was accomplished dur- 
ing the latter part of the reign of Charles II, who 
was somewhat of a cook as well as an epicure. The 
sirloin of beef is said to owe its name to this monarch, 
who, dining upon a loin of beef with which he was 
particularly pleased, inquired the name of the joint, 
saying its merit ^\'as so great that it deserved to be 
knighted, and that thenceforth it should be called Sir- 
Loin. The Parisian school soon became fashionable, 
and numerous works on cookery made their appear- 
ance. But, like the fifteenth I^ouis when intent upon 
his pleasures at the Pare aux Cerfs, the second 
Charles, amid his dissolute court and its frail beauties 
whom Sir Peter Lely has drawn for us, had other mat- 
ters to engage his serious attention than presiding at 
the range or posing as a patron of culinary authors. 
Pies, tarts, and pasties now met with increased favour, 
and "The Accomplisht Cook, or The Art and ^lys- 
tery of Cookery" of Robert May, the first edition of 
which appeared in 1665, became the oracle of feasting 
and dining. "God and his own conscience," the au- 
thor states, would not permit him "to bury his experi- 
ences with his silver hairs in the grave." 

From Pepys' "Diary" one may obtain much infor- 
mation regarding the mode of li^^ing at the time. 
That the English appetite had suffered no decline is 
apparent from nearly any one of his entries relating 
to the subject. John and Joan may have continued 
to live "meanely," but such can scarcely be said of the 
better classes. Thus, under date of January 26, 1659, 
Pepys speaks of coming home from his office to my 
lord's lodgings, where his wife had "got ready a ve^iy 
99 L. jiC. 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

fine dinner, viz. : a dish of marrow-bones, a leg of mut- 
ton, a loin of veal, a dish of fowl, three pullets, and 
a dozen of larks all in a dish; a great tart, a neat's- 
tongue, a dish of anchovies, a dish of prawns, and 
cheese." On IMarch 26, 1660, having guests to dine 
with him, he says: "I had a pretty dinner for them, 
viz. : a brace of stewed carps, six roasted chickens, and 
a jowle of salmon hot for the first course: a tansy, a 
kind of sweet dish made of eggs, cream, etc., flavoured 
with the juice of tansy; and two neat's-tongues and 
cheese, the second. We had a man cook to dress din- 
ner to-day. jVIerry all the afternoon, talking, singing, 
and piping on the flageolet." 

On another occasion, April 4, 1662, he states that 
he "was very merry before and after dinner, and the 
more for that my dinner was great, and most neatly 
dressed by our own only mayde. We had a fricassee 
of rabbits and chickens, a leg of mutton boiled, three 
carps in a dish, a great dish of a side of lamb, a dish 
of roasted pigeons, a dish of four lobsters, three tarts, 
a lamprey-pie, a most rare pie, a dish of anchovies, 
good wine of several sorts, and all things mighty 
noble, and to my great content." Another of his din- 
ners consisted of "a ham of French bacon boiled with 
pigeons, and a roasted swan, both excellent dishes." 
Dining at Sir William Penn's on his wedding anni- 
versary, he mentions, besides a good chine of beef and 
other good cheer, eighteen mince-pies in a dish — the 
nimiber of years his host had been married. Again, 
he speaks of drinking great quantities of claret, and 
of eating botargo, a sausage made of eggs and the 
blood of a sea-mullet, wath bread and butter; as also 

100 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

of dining on a haunch of venison "powdered and 
boiled, and a powdered leg of pork; also a fine salmon- 
pie." 

It will be noted how meat, game, and fish-pies pre- 
vail, with tarts, marrow-bones, and neat's-tongues as 
secondary dishes. The roast swan, if a cygnet, may 
have been rather appetising, but one would feel more 
secure to leave the lamprey-pie untasted, and allow the 
"botargo" to be passed on to a neighbour. The sal- 
mon-pie, likewise, has an indigestible sound, especially 
as there are no signs of any Chablis or hock to serve 
as an antidote. Of course, the virtues of the carp 
would depend entirely on the sauce, and carp sauces 
of those days must have been anytliing but assuring. 
The "Diary" of Mr. Pepys says nothing of the morn- 
ings after his dinners — the true test of a generous re- 
past. It is just as well, therefore, for the reader who 
has the w^elfare of his stomach to consider, not to 
dream of having dined with Pepys or his friends, or 
to attempt to vie with him in "claret" and "good 
cheer." 

Far more simple, though by no means meagre, was 
the diet of the rural population. In place of lobsters 
and fricassees with sack and muscadel, bread, the roast 
of beef, mutton, and veal, and sound home-brewed 
ale went to the making of strength and endurance. 
In the countr}^ the hay-hai'^^est, sheep-shearing, and 
the wheat-harvest were always occasions for special 
festivity, where master and men jointly celebrated the 
fruits of their toil in the fields. Of all such celebra- 
tions tlie Hock-Cart or Harvest-Home, when the last 
slieaf of wheat had been garnered, was the most pro- 
101 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

lific of feasting and merrymaking — a festival which 

is well described by Herrick, with its attendant bill of 

fare: 

"Come, sons of summer, by whose toil, 

We are the lords of wine and oil ; 

By whose tough labours and rough hands, 

We rip up first, then reap our lands. 

Crowned with the ears of corn, now come. 

And to the pipe sing harvest home. 

Come forth, my lord, and see the cart 

Dressed up with all the country art. 

Well on, brave boys, to your lord's hearth, 

Glitt'ring with fire, where, for your mirth, 

Ye shall see first the large and chief 

Foundation of your feast, fat beef ; 

With upper stories, mutton, veal. 

And bacon which makes full the meal, 

With several dishes standing by. 

As here a custard, there a pie. 

And here all-tempting frumenty. 

And for to make the merry cheer. 

If smirking wine be wanting here. 

There 's that which drowns all care, stout beer. 

Which freely drink to your lord's health. 

Then to the plough (the commonwealth), 

Next to your flails, your fans, your vats ; 

Then to the maids with wheaten hats ; 

To the rough sickle, and the crook'd scythe. 

Drink, frolic boys, till all be blythe. . . ." 

The era of Queen Anne, a noted gourmande, who 
achieved the feminine distinction of acquiring the 
gout, was marked by the appearance of a work on 
"Royal Cookery, or the Complete Court Book" 

102 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

(1710), by Patrick Lamb, Esq., chef to her JNIajesty, 
who had previously served Charles II, James II, and 
William and JNIary. Pope's description in the "Dun- 
ciad" would indicate that cookery was in a flourishing 
state under the last of the Stuarts: 

"On some a priest succinct in amice white 
Attends ; all flesh is nothing in his sight ! 
Beeves, at his touch, at once to jelly turn, 
And the huge boar is shrunk into an urn ; 
The board with specious miracles he loads, 
Turns hares to larks, and pigeons into toads. 
Another (for in all what one can shine?) 
Explains the seve and verdeur of the wine." 

In 1730 appeared "The Compleat Practical Cook, 
or A new System of the whole Art and Mystery of 
Cooking," a work with sixty carious copperplates of 
courses, written ])y Charles Carter, cook to the Duke 
of Argyll, the Earl of Pontefract, and Lord Corn- 
wallis. In the preface to his "City and Country 
Cook" the author says: "What I have published is al- 
most the only book, one or two excepted, which of late 
years has come into the world, that has been the result 
of the author's own practice and experience; for 
though very few eminent practical Cooks have ever 
cared to publish what they knew of the art, yet they 
have been prevailed on, for a small premium from a 
Bookseller, to lend their names to performances in 
this art, unworthy their owning." 

The titles of many of the early cook-books are not 
wanting in quaintness or directness, as the case may 
be, ho^^'ever devoid of practical worth their contents. 
103 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Thus we find the following among a host of other 
English works relating to the subject: 

The Good Husive's Handmaid, 1550. 

The Householder's Philosojjhie, 1588. 

The Good Housewife's Closet of Provision, 1589. 

Butte's Dyets Dry Dinner, 1599. 

Dawson's Good Huswife's Jewel and rare Con- 
ceits in Cookry, 1610. 

The Book of Carving and Serving, 1613. 

A Closet of Delights for Ladies, 1630. 

A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1630. 

Murrell's Cookerie and Manner of making Kick- 
shawes, etc., 1630. 

The Philosopher's Banquet, 1633. 

The Schoolmaster, or Teacher of Table Philosophy, 
1652. 

The Ladies' Companion, 1653. 

The Treasury of Commodious Conceits and Hidden 
Secrets, 1653. 

The Ladies' Cabinet Opened, 1655. 

Nature unembowelled, or 1720 Receipts, 1655. 

The True Gentlewoman's Dehght, 1671. 

The Gentlewoman's Cabinet Unlocked, 1675. 

The Queen-Like Closet, or Rich Cabinet, 1675. 

The School of Grace, or A Book of Nurture, 1680. 

Rose's School for the Officers of the ^Mouth, 1682. 

The Queen's Closet Opened, 1683. 

Hannah Wooley's Rare Receipts, 1684. 

The AccompHsht Ladies' Delight, 1686. 

The Kitchen Physician, 1688. 

The Cupboard Door Opened, 1689. 

The Queen's Cookery, 1709. 

104 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

Incomperable Secrets in Cookery, 1710. 

Cookery and Pastry Cards, 1720. 

The Young Lady's Comj)anion, 1734. 

E. Smith's Compleat Housewife, 1736. 

The Family Piece, 1741. 

Adam's Luxury and Eve's Cookery, 1744. 

Sarah Jackson's Cook Director, 1755. 

The Cook's Cookery, and Comments on INIrs. Glasse, 
1758. 

INIary Smith's Compleat Housekeeper, 177*2. 

Sarah Harrison's Housekeeper's Pocket-Book, 
1777. 

Mrs. Fisher's Prudent Housewife, 1788. 

Dr. Stark's Dietetical Experiments, 1788. 

JNIrs. Carter's Frugal Housewife, 1810. ■ 

Mrs. Powel's Art of Cookery, 1811. 

Mrs. Price's New Book of Cookery, 1813. 

The School of Good Living, 1814. 

Young's Epicure, 1815. 

Haslehurst's Family Friend, 1816. 

Chamber's Ladies' Best Companion, 1820. 

Here are manuals enough, in all conscience, to have 
produced a progressive cuisine, were not the majority 
a repetition of the crudities and barbarisms of their an- 
tecedents, where one heres}^ was passed on to be aug- 
mented by another author, and by him transmitted to 
liis successors. Essentially differing from France, 
England was unblessed with originality, and not until 
the influence of the splendid restaurants of the Pari- 
sian capital had extended across the Channel did the 
Briton awaken from his lethargy and cease to see 
--^through ^Irs. Glasse and ]Mrs. Smith darkly. Then 
105 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Ude and Kitchener, Francatelli, Walker, and Soyer 
appeared, to pave the way for a better condition of 
cookery in the kingdom. 

That the works referred to, where one has the facili- 
ties of consulting them and the patience to peruse 
them, are not entirely lacking in wit will be obvious 
if only from the repetition — in her "Compleat House- 
wife," by JNIrs. Smith, who professes "to serve the pub- 
lick in what she may" — of Ray's proverb, "God sends 
meat and the devil sends cooks," as well as from 
her namesake's rendition in the "Compleat House- 
keeper" of sauce Robert as "Roe-Boat sauce," ome- 
lette as "Hamlet," and soupe a la reine as "Soup a la 
Rain." Neither should a really witty quatrain from 
"The Philosopher's Banquet," whose aroma almost 
suggests the spikenards, musks, and galbanums of the 
"Hesperides," be allowed to pass vmnoticed: 

"If Leekes you like, but do their smelle dis-leeke, 
Eat Onyons, and you shall not smelle the Leeke ; 
If you of Onyons would the scente expelle. 
Eat Garlicke, that shall drowne the Onyons' smelle." 

It has been said of garlic that every one knows its 
odour save he who has eaten it, and who wonders why 
every one flies at his approach. But the onion tribe is 
prophylactic and highly invigorating, and even more 
necessary to cookery than parsley itself. What were 
a salad without the onion, whey -cheese without chives, 
a bouillabaisse, or a brandade of cod without garlic, 
certain soups and ragouts without leeks, and a borde- 
laise sauce without shallots! And if every one eat 
them, how shall they offend? "All Italy is in the fine, 

106 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

penetrating smell; and all Provence; and all Spain. 
An onion- or garlic-scented atmosphere hovers alike 
over the narrow calli of Venice, the cool courts of Cor- 
dova, and the thronged amphitheatre of Aries. It is 
only the atmosphere breathed by the Latin peoples of 
the South, so that ever must it suggest blue skies and 
endless sunshine, cypress groves, and olive orchards. 
For the traveller it is interwoven with memories of 
the golden canvases of Titian, the song of Dante, 
the music of JNIascagni." ^ In like manner, the wild 
leek that strews the woodland carpet with its cool, 
fresh greens and pale, nodding flowers is associated 
with one's first spring rambles, while yet the snow- 
banks linger amid the sheltered hollows and the sum- 
mons of the first flicker resounds through the awak- 
ening groves. Decidedly, life were devoid of a great 
portion of its fragrance if deprived of the resources 
of the Allium. It is the salt of flavourings, and its 
rich pimgency belongs to it alone. 

jNIost famous among culinary treatises of the eigh- 
teenth century is that of JNIrs. Glasse, first printed in 
1747, and republished as late as 1803." For a long 
period this was the vade mecum of the kitchen, and 
was fondled as fervently by housewives as was ever 
Addison by the literarian, or Herbert by the pietist. 
From the original thin folio it gradually broadened 
through numerous editions into a thick octavo. The 
authorship of the work is in doubt, it having been vari- 

^ Elizabeth Robins Pennell : "The lished. ByaLadj'. London: Printed 

Feasts of Autolyous." for the Author; and sold at Mrs. Ash- 

'^ The Art of Cookery Made Plain burn's, a China Shop, the Corner of 

and Easj% which far Exceeds Every Fleet Ditch. 
Thing of the Kind Ever yet Pub- 

107 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ously atti-ibuted to Dr. Hill and Dr. Hunter, London 
physicians, and jNIrs. Hannah Glasse of Southampton 
Row, Bloomsbury, habit-maker to the royal family. 
Careful perusal, nevertheless, would indicate a femi- 
nine instead of a masculine hand. The first edition of 
1747 is said to be almost as rare as the first folio of 
Shakespeare, being quoted, "in the original sheep 
binding with rough leaves in a red morocco case," as 
high as c£31 10^. in a recent catalogue of a London 
bookseller. 

It is stated in the preface that the work has not been 
written in the "high-polite style," and that the ends 
tlie manual was intended for were to "improve the ser- 
vants and save the ladies a great deal of trouble." 
The book owes its reputation, no doubt, more to the 
remark erroneously credited to the author — "First 
catch your hare" — than to any other cause. Certainly 
its recipes have little to recommend it. INIace, cloves, 
nutmeg, and similar spices — ingredients that require 
the nicest discrimination in their employment — are 
still prescribed in cyclopean quantities, and under her 
regime cookery continued to remain much in the con- 
dition described by Goldsmith: 

"For palates grown callous almost to disease, 
Who peppers the highest is surest to please." 

Many of the old dishes, with others slightly modi- 
fied, find place in her pages, together with new dishes 
of singular titles: as, for instance, "Bombarded Veal," 
"How to fricassee Skirrets," "to prepare an Oxford 
John," "to make a Cheese-Curd Florendine," "to stew 

108 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

Beef Gobbets," "to make a Pellaw the Indian way," 
"to make a Frangas Incopades," "to French a Hind- 
Saddle of INIutton," "to make a Hedge-Hog," and 
"an Hottentot Pie," "to make an excellent Sack- 
Posset," etc. But the recipes will speak best for them- 
selves, like the following for making "A Good Brown 
Gravy": 

"Take a half a pint of small beer, or ale that is not bitter, 
and half a pint of water, an onion cut small, a little bit of 
lemon-peel cut small, three cloves, a blade of mace, some 
whole pepper, a spoonful of walnut pickle, a spoonful of cat- 
chup, and an anchovy ; first put a piece of butter into a sauce- 
pan, as big as a hen's egg, when it is melted shake in a little 
flour, and let it be a little brown ; then by degrees stir in the 
above ingredients, and let it boil a quarter of an hour, then 
strain it, and it is fit for fish or roots." 

The directions for "A Liver-Pudding boiled" call 
for additional skill and thorough familiarity with the 
art of the charcutier: 

"Get the liver of the sheep, when you kill one, and cut it 
as thin as you can, and chop it ; mix it with as much suet shred 
fine, half as many crumbs of bread or biscuit grated, season it 
with some sweet herbs shred fine, a little nutmeg grated, a 
little beaten pepper, and an anchovy shred fine; mix all to- 
gether with a little salt, or the anchovy liquor, with a piece of 
butter, fill the crust and close it; boil three hours." 

In Mrs. Smith's "Compleat Housewife" (1736) we 
find these instructions, entitled "To Collar A Pig": 

"Cut off the head of your pig ; then cut the body asunder ; 
bone it, and cut two collars off each side. . . ." 
109 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

In ]Mrs. Glasse's injunctions for roasting a pig, the 
author is yet more colourful : 

"Stick your pig just above the brcast-bonc, and run your 
knife to the heart. . . ." 

It will be immediately evident that injustice has 
been done to this noble and worthy companion of man 
— that of confounding him with the hare, whose only 
practical use is in a civet or a pie, and in furnishing 
amusement in coursing. For neither in "The Art of 
Cookery" nor in her "Comjjleat Confectioner" does 
JVIrs. Glasse utter the axiom, "First catch your hare," 
but, as we have seen, "First stick your pig"! It was 
Beauvilliers who said, in presenting his recipe for hare- 
pie: ''Aycz 11 n lievre.'' 

Among the dishes presented in "The Art of Cook- 
ery" which will be appreciated by the feminine reader 
is one termed "A Bride's Pie," which no doubt was 
considered fully worthy the appellation of an old 
culinary writer — "a darling dainty": 

"Boil two cah^es' feet, pick the meat from the bones, and 
chop it very fine, shred small one pound of beef suet, and a 
pound of apples, wash and pick one pound of currants very 
small, dry them before the fire, stone and chop a quarter of a 
pound of jar raisins, a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon, the 
same of mace and nutmeg, two ounces of candied citron, two 
ounces of candied lemon cut thin, a glass of brandy and one 
of Champagne, put them in a china dish with a rich puff 
paste over it, roll another lid and cut it in leaves, flowers, 
figures, and put a glass ring in it." 

110 



OLD ENGLISH DISHES 

It may have been some of Mrs. Glasse's compounds 
that prompted Johnson's remark, "Women can spin 
very well, but they cannot make a good book of cook- 
ery." Many other works during the eighteenth cen- 
tury succeeded "The Art of Cookery," though none 
achieved its marked popularity. Sufficient has been 
said of ancient English manuals, however, to i^resent 
some idea of their quality and enable the reader to 
judge of the culinary science as it was understood by 
former generations. Far more slow to develop than 
in France, English cookery has still much to attain 
among both the middle and well-to-do classes, and 
even in the case of most of the restaurants and hotels ; 
the era has not yet dawned in Great Britain when, on 
arising from the dinner-table, one may truly exclaim : 

"Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day!" 




Ill 




L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS ' 



' Toiit s'arraiige eii dinant daus le siecle oii iions sorumes, 
Et e'est i)ar des diuers <iu'on gouverne les homines." 

Cassimir Delavigne : Les Comediens. 



REASONING from the standpoint that the stom- 
. ach is the great motor of vital energy, it may 
justly be adduced that everything which contributes 
to a perfect balance of its mechanism is of ines- 
timable importance. As, moreover, the true func- 
tion of improved cookery is to second hygiene and 
to replace medicaments by ingenious combinations of 
natural products, it will be readily apparent that a 



^ Almanach des Gourmands, Sui- 
vant de Guide Dans Les Moyens de 
faire excellente Chere; Par Un Viel 
Amateur. Troisieme Edition. Re- 
vue, Corrig^e et Considerablement 
Augmentee. A Paris. Chez Mara- 



dan,ruePaves-Saint-Andre-des-Arcs, 
18()4-, 1804., 180.5, 1806, 1807, 1808. 
Chez Joseph Chaumerot, Libraire, au 
Palais Royal, Galeries de Bois, 1810, 
181^. 

112 




"UN A^EL AMATEUR" 

A. B. L. Grimod de la Reynieve, ne k Paris le 20 9bre, 1756 

From an old print 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

good cook and a good writer on cookery — a cook who 
can comj)ose and a writer who can suggest and stimu- 
late — at once become of even greater vakie than a col- 
lege of j)hysicians. 

These desirable qualifications belong preeminently 
to the French, as brewing belongs to the Germans, 
weaving to the Orientals, sculpture to the Italians, 
and mechanical invention to the Americans. The same 
facilities present themselves in many countries — it has 
remained for France to perfect them and create a 
literature on the subject distinctively its own. The 
Frenchman may keep on his hat during the entr'actes 
of a play and be forever wrangling with his mode of 
government, but he has taught the world how to dine. 
"Let me have books!" cries Horace; "Let us have 
cooks!" exclaims the Gaul. And with the cooks come 
the cook-books — tlie meditations, codes, almanacs, 
physiologies, manuals, and guides. 

In considering those works that have treated most 
pleasingly of the art with which mankind is so di- 
rectly concerned thrice a day, that of Brillat-Savarin 
stands foremost. He is the Addison of the dinner- 
table, as instructive as he is diverting, and his brilliant 
disquisition will remain a classic so long as dinners en- 
dure. But Grimod de la Reyniere, whose contribu- 
tions Savarin passed by in silence, had preceded him 
and had first enlightened the past century in regard 
to what jNIoliere has teiTned la science des hons mor- 
feaUiV. Let justice be rendered wliere justice is due — 
the "Physiology of Taste" is indebted in no little de- 
gree to the "Almanac of the Epicures." Had La Rey- 
niere possessed as much refinement as Savarin, had he 
113 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

observed greater concentration, and had he refrained 
from the frequent puifery of mercantile estabhsh- 
ments, the "Ahiianach" might not be numbered to- 
day among unjustly forgotten books. But he is not 
alone in his references to the tradesmen : even Savarin 
is guilty of shop-pufFery to a limited extent — a trait 
almost universal among French writers on gastron- 
omy, though none have vied with La Reyniere in im- 
mortalising a maker of pates or in elevating a vender 
of truffles to tlie dignity of a minister of state. 

The fact that he was afflicted with a deformity of 
his hands, and that his numerous volumes and contri- 
butions to the press were written with an artificial 
member, renders his literary labours the more surpris- 
ing. A fluent writer, whose humour and verve sparkle 
from every page of liis subject proper, it is to be re- 
gretted that he is so little known by the present gener- 
ation, for the eight rare little volumes which com- 
prise the "Almanach des Gourmands" may be classed 
among the most sprightly and learned dissertations 
relating to the pleasures of the table. Numerous al- 
manacs have succeeded his. But these are like har- 
monicas compared with a Stradivarius, or the "Con- 
fessions of Rousseau" contrasted with the "Life of 
Cellini." A veritable storehouse of epicurean lore, his 
unique treatise should be republished, with its eulo- 
giums left out, and its finer fancies and wealth of cu- 
linary teachings retained to instruct and charm anew. 
In a revision of the work, these allusions to the four- 
nisseurs could be omitted to advantage, and thus a 
most useful treatise be presented in a much more con- 
cise form. 

114 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

It should be stated, in justice to the author, that his 
references to ahmentary dealers and wine-merchants 
were not all of a laudatory character. His pills were 
not wholly sugar-coated ; any delinquent who merited 
censure was summarily dealt with. The "Almanach" 
wielded a powerful influence, and could make or mar. 
From the very first year of its appearance it asserted 
its sway, a supremacy that no one ventured to contest. 
Its decrees were inexorable, and woe to the restaura- 
teur who failed in a matelote, the dealer who was lack- 
ing in courtesy, the merchant who w^as guilty of over- 
charging, or the purveyor whose wares were found 
wanting. The editor's caustic pen was as dreaded as 
it was respected. A paragraph rendered a furnisher 
famous, a disparaging line caused a shop to be avoided. 
Its edicts were a Vehmgerlcht from which there was 
no appeal. Thus it maintained a surveillance and an 
influence that were not without their excellent results 
— a censorship that would be invaluable in the present 
days of adulterations. 

Written in a more serious vein is the "Manuel des 
Amphitryons," a large octavo dealing with the art of 
carving, bills of fare for each season, and table pro- 
prieties.^ 

This volume is valuable chiefly for the great variety 
of its menus — the joint production of the author and 
the presiding genius of the Rocher de Cancale when 

^ Manuel des Amphitryons; con- loux de faire bonne chere, et de la 

tenant Un Traite de la Dissection faire faire aux autres. Orne d'un 

des viandes a table, la Nomenclature ^rand nombre de Planches g-rav6es 

des Menus les plus nouveaux pour en taille-douce. Par I'Auteur de 

chacque saison, et des Elemens de la I'Almanach des Gourmands. A Paris, 

Politesse gourmande. Ouvrage in- Chez Capelle et Renand, .mdcccviii. 
dispensable a tous ceux qui sont ja- 

115 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Parisian cookery had attained its greatest distinction. 
The menus, each of which is commented upon at 
lengtli, are remarkable for their elaborateness and di- 
versity, and illustrate the great inventive resources of 
the period. Any one of those that are designed for 
sixty covers would seem sufficient, with judicious selec- 
tion and by the substitution of a few dishes, according 
to the season, to serve throughout the year. The last 
division of the volume, relating to table usages, is 
covered in the "Almanach," as is also some of the mat- 
ter of the first division. 

It is in the "Manuel" that we find the gifted author 
in his most serious mood and most impressed with his 
responsibilities. To guide the capricious stomachs of 
a great capital in the right way, to instruct unerringly 
in the grand art du savoir vivre, to give a new impetus 
to a refinement that the Jacobins and the Directory 
had well nigh relegated to oblivion, was a task that 
might not be entered upon lightly or undertaken with- 
out a grave sense of its importance. 

The bills of fare are veritable morsels to turn 
over on the tongue. For if, as La Fontaine avers, le 
cliangement de mets rcjouit Vliomine — how important 
that man's daily change be an appetising one! And 
yet one may well rejoice that he lives in an age when 
a good dinner may be composed of a simple soup, a 
perfectly cooked fish, an entree, a bird, and a salad, 
with a good wine served at its proper temperature. 
Cookery has changed with time, and the "manual" of 
a host of to-day differs as much as does his costume 
from tliat of a century ago. This is not saying that 
on a stimulating winter's day it were not worth a walk 

116 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

of many a league to dine where the menu had been 
superintended by the author of the "JSIanuel" and exe- 
cuted by the Rocher — if that were possible at present. 
Alexandre-Balthazar-liaurent Grimod de la Rey- 
niere was born in Paris, November 20, 1758. His 
early life was an adventurous one, and after first iden- 
tifjang himself with belles-lettres he studied and prac- 
tised law, besides engaging in various artistic, literary, 
and mercantile pursuits. In his thirty-ninth year he 
became enamoured of an actress — jNIlle. JNIezeray — to 
which circumstance the world is largely indebted for 
the "Almanach" and the "JNIanuel des Amphitryons." 
On declaring his passion with all the fervour of a 
highly impressionable nature, only to meet with a re- 
pulse, he determined to look to gastronomy for con- 
solation, a resolve he at once expressed in poetic form 
under the title "INIy Abnegation," the poem being 
addressed to "A Celebrated Actress" and published in 
a dramatic journal of which he was the editor. A 
stanza may be cited : 

"De vrais amis, un doux asile, 
Des diners fins et delicats: 
Voila pour mon anie tranquille, 
Qui vaut micux que des luias!'' 

(True friends a few, a nice abode, \ 

And dinners fine and rcclierches— 1 

Far better sucli for peace of mind 

Than Love's refrain, "Ah, lack-a-da v !',' ) 



This sentiment would show him to have been a true 
philosopher, accepting the situation placidly, and rec- 
117 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ognisiiig" that in love there is always one who kisses 
and the other who extends the cheek. "Fine and deli- 
cate dinners!" — therein, of a truth, may be found a 
marvellous panacea for lacerated affections and the 
buffets of the world. To be sure, he had already 
belonged for many years to a society known as the 
Societe des JNIercredis, composed of seventeen mem- 
bers, w^io were in the habit of dining weekly at the 
Roclier de Cancale, then the most celebrated restau- 
rant of Paris. But it was not until Cupid frowned, 
in the person of jNIlle. INIezeray, that he turned seri- 
ously to gastronomy and made it a profession. The 
fact that he had already been married for ten years in 
no wise detracts from the value of his recipe — a medi- 
cation for melancholy that has been overlooked in the 
"Anatomy." The key-note of his verses on the occa- 
sion was emphasised by a postscript extolling the 
pleasures of the table, a paragraph that appeared sub- 
sequently in an amended form in the "Almanach." 
Already in this ebullition of a misogynist for the mo- 
ment, we detect the redundant fancy and familiarity 
with his theme which marked the great gastronomer 
who was soon to wield his facile pen in the interests of 
the science of which he became the exponent-in-chief: 

"The author of this abnegation, who some day intends pub- 
lishing a panegyric of gastronomy, has always regarded the 
pleasures of good cheer as the first of the mind and the senses. 
It will be acknowledged that these are the first one enjoys, 
and those that may be most often multiplied. Who may say 
as much of the rest? Is there a woman, however beautiful, 
who is worth these admirable red partridges of Languedoc 
or Cevennes ; these pates de foie of geese and ducks which 

118 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURJMANDS 

Mill forever celebrate the cities of Toulouse, Audi, and Strass- 
burg ; these stuffed tongues of Troyes ; these sausages of 
Aries that render the pig so estimable and so precious? Can 
one compare a pretty, simpering face with these splendid 
sheep of Ganges and the Ardennes whose flesh fairly melts 
in one's mouth? What comparison can be made between a 
piquante face and these pullets of Brcsse, these capons of 
Mans? . . . Who would oppose to these delights the 
caprices of a woman, her poutings, her vagaries, her refusals, 
and even her favours?" 

In quite a different strain, a few years later, we 
shall hear him compare a peach — ripe, rosy, juicy, and 
melting — to lovely femininity, and in the amended 
form of the note that accompanied his renunciation 
perceive his greater delicacy of touch, as well as mark 
his conversion to the doctrine of Desaugiers: 

"Pour etre aime dcs belles, 
Aimons ; 
Un beau jour changcnt-elles, 
Changeons !" 

(To win the favours of the fair, 

Be bold; 
If then they lack in debonnaire, 

Be cold!) 

a postulate that may have its drawbacks, but never- 
theless offers its advantages. 

It is with an author's work, how^ever, and not with 

his personal traits that the public is mainly concerned, 

and of La Reyniere's literary productions the "Al- 

manach" constitutes his greatest claim to distinction. 

119 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

So closely is this associated with the famous Jury dc- 
gvstateur, of which he was the founder, secretary, and 
mainspring, that one may scarcely be considered with- 
out the other — the "Almanach" was the jury, and the 
jury was the "Almanach." 

The tribunal, which ^vas formed for the purpose of 
influencing and ameliorating the provisions and food 
products of the Parisian market, was composed of an 
indefinite nimiber of jurors, though these never ex- 
ceeded twelve or were less than five. Each of the 
judges was a tried epicure, eating and drinking what- 
ever he was asked to pass upon, without knowing the 
names of the contributors, in order that everything 
submitted might be estimated in strict accordance with 
its merits. Dr. Gastaldy, an eminent physician, was 
chosen president, La Reyniere preferring the secre- 
taryship, with its more arduous duties. The presi- 
dent is described as one who added to the finest palate 
and the most practised tact the largest experience, 
and who combined all the advantages that might re- 
sult from profound theory and active practice. It is 
related of him that on a certain occasion, when re- 
minded by a lady that he was taking a large portion 
of macaroni after a very ]^lenteous repast, he observed : 
"JNIadame, macaroni is heavy, it is true, but it is like 
the Doge of Venice: when he arrives one must make 
room for him — every one stands aside." The INIarquis 
de Cussy, who declared, "Roasting is at once nothing 
and the infinite," and whom La Reyniere termed the 
first gastronomer of the age, was a no less distin- 
guished member. He was also an entertaining writer 
on gastronomy, and contributed some articles anony- 

120 




LE PREMIKK DEVUlK DLX AMPHITRYON 
Fi-ontisi)ieco of tlio fifth yt-ai- uf tliu "Almanach des Gouriuamls' 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

mously to the "Almanach," his greatest literary fame 
resting on his "Art Culinaire." 

The meetings of the society took place weekly at 
the residence of the secretary, the sittings occupying 
five hours. That these seances were of a philanthropic 
as well as a sybaritic nature is apparent from the 
preface to the second year of the "Almanach," where 
the editor states that he will regret neither the pains 
nor the indigestions his duties entail, if the national 
glory in every branch of the alimentary art be only 
impelled to renewed progress. 

It was the secretary's place to take note of all con- 
troversies and decisions, which he afterward drew up 
and elaborated, submitting his reports to the president 
at the following meeting for verification. An extract 
of these decisions, duly collated, was sent to the inter- 
ested persons. All forms of eatables and drinkables 
constituted part of the jury's deliberations, and of 
these contributions only a single sample was passed 
upon at a time. When the judgments were unfavour- 
able to the artist whose handiwork had been submitted, 
he was advised accordingly, in order that he might 
correct and that at a subsequent test of the same ob- 
ject he might prove that he had profited by the disin- 
terested verdict. If he refused to do so, the decision 
was printed in the following "Almanach" as it origi- 
nally stood. It was noted that many merchants and 
culinary artists lived on their reputations, taking ad- 
vantage of a formerly celebrated name to deceive the 
public and abuse its confidence long after they had 
ceased to merit it, wliilst, on the other hand, an obscure 
person endowed perchance with great talent and zeal- 
121 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ous in liis art ^^'as not unfrequently the inventor of 
productions worthy of the greatest masters. It was 
the purpose of tlie jury and its exponent to expose 
the former and rescue tlie latter from oblivion. 

Natm-ally, these attacks on the manufacturers and 
venders often brought their rejoinders, some of which 
were by no means devoid of interest, as, for instance, a 
letter from a certain INI. Grec, a merchant who had 
sold a spoiled pate to a customer and refused to take 
it back in exchange for other merchandise : 

"I am at a loss to comprehend, Monsieur, why you should 
have attached an infamous note to my name in the fifth year 
of your 'Ahnanach.' A lawyer who is not without reputation 
wisheil me to attack you in return, telhng me I could lead 
you a merry chase {que je pourrais vous mener loin). I did 
not care to follow his advice, because I reflected that your book 
and its author are far from being makers of reputations, either 
for good or for bad ; perhaps the public, which appreciates 
you at your true value, has formed an opinion directly con- 
trary to that 3'ou express. 

"On this hypothesis, far from having to complain of you, 
I owe you my thanks. To this end, I have even thought of 
offering substantial proof by sending you a fine trnffied tur- 
key whose aroma, penetrating your olfactories, would exer- 
cise its benign influence, and inspire a good word for 
me in the future. But I restrain myself, for the reasons I 
have just stated and the fact that any good you might 
say might have the eff'ect of injuring me in the eyes of the 
public. 

"All things considered, I will keep my turkey to eat with 
my friends and with the person who was kind enough to lend 
me his pen; for as a stranger and a simple merchant, I do not 
pride myself on writing, but on honestly conducting my busi- 

122 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

ness. Besides, have no fears, we will drink to your health and 
to the preservation of one of the most useful men of the 
state." 

The fine irony throughout the letter will assuredly 
commend itself to the reader, as it undoubtedly nettled 
the editor. The reference to the ti'uffled turkey — and 
this was to have been a dindc truffce — was notably the 
stroke of a master, artfully designed to hit the recipi- 
ent in a tender spot, an under-thrust that could not 
have failed to tell. But however great the editor's 
disappointment, — for one remembers his appetising- 
essay, "Des Dindes Braisees," wherein he specifies 
that the turkey should be well perfumed with truffles, 
— he was more than ecpial to the occasion by retaliating 
that the lawyer could hardly proceed as far as the pate 
if it still remained in the shop of jM. Grec, and had 
been left to itself; for it had already begun to march 
of its own accord. The writer's decision to keep the 
turkey is referred to as in excellent taste withal, in 
comparison with the fate of the pate. 

Nor was an expose of a guest who had served a 
large and inferior piite at a rural outing, furnished 
by a vulgar artist — claiming it as one of the incom- 
para})le productions of a celebrated maker — less mer- 
ited and severe. The pate was pompously announced 
as coming from the f I'agrant ovens of a certain JNI. Le 
Sage. 

"At the mention of this revered name" [says the editor], 
"the attention of all the guests was directed to the piece, the 
opening of which was eagerly awaited. 

"This pate was at first sight very inviting, but no sooner 

123 



THE PLEASUKKS OF THE TABLE 

WHS the crust reinoved than wc perceived from the enormous 
void that it could not have been made by M. Le Sage, whose 
pates are always well filled, and are garnished in addition 
with a blond of veal that renders them easily distinguishable. 

"The one in question, which was presented as a pate of 
ham of Bnyonne, offered merely an indigestible mixture of or- 
dinary ham, dried and spoiled, intci-spersed with chunks of 
tough veal ; the crust corresponded to the interior, and the 
stuffing to the whole. 

"We indignantly protested that such a pate could not ema- 
nate from the manufactory of jNI. Le Sage ; l)ut the donor in- 
sisting stoutly that he had himself purchased it from him, 
he was believed, in spite of the fact that he was a man of the 
law. 

"We had our doubts, notwithstanding; for it is less rare 
to find a lying knave than a detestable pate emanating from 
]M. Lc Sage, who, through the assertion made, found himself 
dishonoured in the estimation of thirty people." 

The result of the author's conviction was a letter 
to the injured party, the latter's prompt appearance 
at the office of the offender, a written apology by the 
culprit, and a promise to the editor of the "Almanach" 
that he would atone for his crime by producing a pate 
whose authenticity could not be questioned, — "which 
still remains for him to do," adds the editor, no doubt 
with a sigh of disappointment. In view of these de- 
nunciations, one may readily understand that the 
products submitted to the jury must have been, almost 
without exception, of a very high order of merit. 
With such a rigid arbiter, few would care to incur 
his censure or render themselves subject to his lash. 
The frequent references to the venders, therefore, 

124 



L'AL^IANACH DES GOURMANDS 

served a treble purpose— that of stimulating the art 
of cookery, exposing knavery, and sumptuously re- 
galing the table of the tribunal. 

There is this besides to be said in extenuation of 
the frequent references to the pdtissiers and rotisseurs 
— that, being specialists, they were more likely to ad- 
vance an art than the average person, however fami- 
liar with the principles of cookery, who was not in 
possession of the mechanical accessories of the pro- 
fessional, or who was not accustomed daily to turn 
his hand to practical account. 

To become a member of the jury, a unanimity of 
votes was necessary, rank or social status being a sec- 
ondary consideration to gastronomic accomplishments 
and brilliancy of appetite and mind. Women were 
not excluded, and, strange to relate, among these was 
jNIlle. INIezeray, a striking proof that time can cool 
the warmest love to friendship. But flounces and 
laces were allowed no voice in the solemn deliberations 
of the tribunal. It might be pleasant to see a pretty 
gourmande under arms, and have her join in the coup 
du milieu which was always obligatory, but how might 
petticoats decide upon the fate of a supreme or a truf- 
fled pate! "Women," says La Reyniere, "who some- 
times assist at the seances, have no deliberative voice 
— one can readily understand the reason." Witli a 
palate vitiated by sweets, her discernment must prove 
unreliable, and there would always be the danger of 
her prejudicing a susceptible member through her 
allurements and coquetries. 

The tribunal had its own codes and rules, which 
were as fixed as the stars. Among these was that no 
125 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

one should speak ill of any one with whom he had 
dined, for a period projDortionate to the importance 
of the dinner. Each guest was provided with a menu 
in advance, of which the contrihutions from outside 
sources to be adjudged formed only a part. The din- 
ner proper was prepared by the cordon-bleu of La 
Reyniere. In case of inability to attend, an excuse 
was obligatory not later than twenty-four hours be- 
fore the time specified, while a failure to be present 
after having accepted was punishable by a fine of five 
hundred francs. This rule was inflexible, as ]Mlle. 
Mezeray found to her cost when, having disregarded 
it, she was banished from the seances for tliree years, 
returning, at the expiration of her sentence, only in 
time to assist at the final meeting of the jury in JNIay, 
1812. 

A quarter of an hour's grace was allowed with ref- 
erence to the set time of the dinner — not a moment 
more : a rule the modern host woidd do well to imitate. 
Everj^ minute after the prescribed hour for the repast 
that one is forced to wait for tardy guests becomes a 
penance to those M^ho are punctual, besides the incon- 
venience it causes to the entertainer and the cook. La 
Reyniere's fifteen minutes of grace is all-sufficient. 
During his reign, indeed, there were some who closed 
their doors to all comers that failed to appear at the 
precise hour. For the use and greater convenience of 
the jury, he invented the speaking-tube communicat- 
ing from the dining-room to the kitchen; the table 
volant e, as we have seen, was already in use, and the 
ascending and descending slide was known. 

Let it not be inferred, however, that he considered 

126 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

himself a gourmand in the strict sense of the term, 
despite the title of the work with which he is most 
closely associated, and the fact that the weekly sit- 
tings of the gustatory jury occupied five hours. He 
would doubtless have drawn the distinction between 
a gourmand and a gourmet most sharply had such a 
possibility entered his mind as a dinner of innmner- 
able courses and water, compared with an extended 
repast of scientifically prepared dishes and their com- 
plementary wines. In the former case he could 
scarcely have j)rojected, much less have completed, 
the "Almanach," to say nothing of having overtaken 
his eightieth year. For that matter, he is careful to 
state, in a letter to the INIarquis de Cussy, touching 
upon the light in which he was placed before the pub- 
lic, that with pen in hand he was always a gourmand, 
but when the fork took the place of the pen it was 
quite another matter. 

It will prove interesting to know how the word 
"gourmand" was defined by one who was most capa- 
ble of interpreting it, the differentiation "gourmet" 
being then much less marked than at present : 

"The Gourmand is not only the being whom nature has 
endowed witli an excellent stomach and a vast appetite — all 
robust and well-constituted men are in this category — but also 
he who adds to these advantages an enlightened taste, whose 
first characteristic resides in a singularly delicate palate cul- 
tivated b\^ long experience. With him all the senses should 
be in constant accord with that of the taste, inasmuch as he 
should criticise his dishes even before they approach his lips. 
It is sufficient to say that his vision should be penetrating, his 
ear alert, his touch fine, and his tongue capable. Thus the 

127 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

gouniiuiul wlioin the Academy paints for us as a gross being 
is, on the contrary, by profession a person gifted with extreme 
dehcacy ; witli him health alone should be vigorous." 

Again, lie says : 

"It only requires a voracious appetite to be a glutton. It 
demands an exquisite judgment, a profound knowledge of 
every branch of the culinary art, a sensual and delicate palate, 
and a thousand other qualities very difficult to combine, in 
order to merit the title of Gourmand." 

In still another reference to the epicure he would 
have him possess, in addition, that jovial humour with- 
out which the best of repasts is but a sad and solemn 
function — a person well equipped with anecdotes and 
amusing stories with which he may fill up the spaces 
between the services, so that the sober guests may for- 
give him his appetite. 

Some may deem his definition includes more than 
the qualities usually assigned to an amateur of din- 
ing, and that it touches too closely on the realm of 
Gargantua. But it must not be lost sight of that his 
cardinal mission was that of improving all manner of 
food preparations and bringing the table to its acme 
of perfection. Without such appreciative votaries, 
cooker}^ must necessarily languish, and dining prove 
merely an obligator}'^ routine; it is to such as he that 
the art owes its present superiority, and to whom man- 
kind should be duly thankful. As he has defined it, 
"gastronomy is an immense book ever open to him 
who may read it aright, whose pages present a series 
of mobile pictures, and whose horizon extends beyond 
one's view." 

128 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

All the products of the animal and vegetable world 
were pronounced upon by this supreme judge of suc- 
culencies, whose palate and appetite never failed, and 
whose pen responded to the most delicate and fugitive 
sensations of taste. Tlie "Almanach" numbers eight 
small volumes, each containing a characteristic dedi- 
cation. Each volume also includes a quaint and care- 
fully engraved frontispiece executed under the direc- 
tion of the author, the subjects representing "The 
Library of a Gourmand of the Nineteenth Century," 
"The Audiences of a Gourmand," "A Seance of the 
Testing Jury," "The JNIeditations of a Gourmand," 
"The First Duty of a Host," "The Dreams of a 
Gourmand," "The Levee of a Gourmand," and "The 
JNIost Mortal Enemy of the Dinner." 

The first volume is dedicated to M. Camerani, 
whose name is attached to a famous soup of his own 
invention, and whom La Reyniere terms one of the 
most erudite epicures of France. 

The second is inscribed to ]M. d'Aigrefeuille, than 
whom none could better appreciate the merits of an 
artistic repast, and whose charms of appetite and con- 
versation were equally balanced. 

The third is sacred to the memory of Carlin Berti- 
nazzi, dernier Arlequin of the Comedie Italienne of 
Paris, an actor whose distinguished talents served for 
forty years as the best of digestives for all epicures. 

The fourtli is consecrated to the members of the 
Societe des ^lercredis, who, by the finesse of their 
taste and the extent of their appetite, have given sucli 
an impetus to the first of the arts, and whose admir- 
able tact has proved a stimulus to the greatest cooks. 
129 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

The fifth has for its tribute the souvenir of Dr. 
Gastaldy, Presideut-perpetuel of the Jury degusta- 
teur, who united in the highest degree all those quali- 
ties that combine to form the most intrepid gastrono- 
mer, but A\'ho was finally vanquished by apoplexy 
while attacking a pate de foie gras. 

The sixth immortalises Grimod de Verneuil, the 
worthy successor of Dr. Gastaldy both in appetite 
and experience, whose head had never been turned by 
the most copious libations of the finest wines of the 
world. 

The seventh is dedicated to the memory of Albouis 
d'Azincourt, a member of the Jury degustateur 
and a founder of the Societe des JMercredis — always 
equally honoured as host or guest. 

The eighth and concluding volume pays a feel- 
ing panegyric to Vatel, in whom the alimentary art 
recognises one of its greatest and most unselfish 
masters. 

Beginning with a dissertation on the various ali- 
mentary products created for the delectation of man, 
each succeeding issue treats of the subject in some of 
its numerous phases until the suspension of the regis- 
ter in 1812. A great charm of the work consists in 
its magisterial tone, as well as in its unbounded enthu- 
siasm, humour, and originality. The artistic presen- 
tation of a subject and the importance with which it 
invests some seemingly trifling detail that in other 
hands might have been unnoticed is also a character- 
istic feature, as, for instance, the admirable references 
to liors d'oeuvres and "The Distractions of the Table." 
Other topics, such as "Rural Hosts," "Indigestions," 

130 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

"Epicurean Visits," "Town Dinners," "Kitchen 
Utensils," "Of Wines," "Of Hosts," "On the Plac- 
ing of Guests at Table," etc., are handled with an 
address and a comprehensiveness no less striking than 
the scenes which form the frontispieces. 

While no doubt the author understood the theory 
of the cuisine, we have no reason to suppose that, like 
IDumas, he was a thoroughly practical cook, or took 
pleasure in surprising his friends with some appetis- 
ing dish of his own preparation. It was his province 
to criticise the productions of others, and to do this it 
was unnecessary to assume the functions of a chef. 
The wine-taster who is most competent to judge of 
the merits of a vintage does not need to be a vinicul- 
turist, nor does the gastronomer necessarily require to 
be a practical cook. In many branches of art the best 
teachers are frequently tlie poorest practitioners. The 
most able critic of painting may never have held a 
brush, and the maestro cajDable of evolving a INIario 
may often be lacking in voice. Though a master of 
but a single instrument, the leader of a great orchestra 
understands and guides all the vehicles of sound under 
his command — from the plectrmn of the harp and 
plaint of the oboe to the diapason of viols and con- 
cord of horns — so intuitive is his sense of harmonious 
accord. The virtuoso is such from his inherent supe- 
riority — of sight, taste, touch, smell, or hearing, as 
the case may be — aided by years of study and culti- 
vation in his especial craft. The epicure is he who, 
gifted with a hyper-susceptivity of taste and its 
complementary sense, smell, as well as long famili- 
arity with viands and wines, may detect savours 
131 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

unappreciated by the ordinary palate, and thus under- 
standingly and authoritatively pronounce upon the 
merits or demerits of a dish. "The 'Almanach,' " says 
the editor, "does not ])rofess to be a cook-book — its 
duty is to try to stimulate the appetite of its readers; 
upon the artists of the kitchen devolves the duty of 
satisfying it." 

The home kitchen of the author, while not elabo- 
rate, was most carefully looked after by a cordon- 
bleu. Its excellence is attested by Dumas, who de- 
clares that one of the best dinners he ever had was 
when, in company with Count d'Orsay, he dined im- 
promptu with La Reyniere a short time previous to 
his death. 

The frontispiece of the fourth year, entitled "IMedi- 
tations of a Gourmand," represents La Reyniere in 
person seated at a writing-table in his robe de chambre. 
He has evidently just suspended his labours to recon- 
sider the materials which are to form the subjects of 
his homilies. The different objects of his contempla- 
tion are ranged around him on various stands: a 
stuffed calf's head, a roasted capon, a matelote of 
La Rapee, a Strassburg pate de foie gras, a plate of 
biscuits of Abbeville, etc., his attention being en- 
grossed for the moment by the calf's head. Various 
treatises on the alimentary art are scattered about him, 
such as "La Patisserie de Sante," "Les Dons de Co- 
mus," and "Le Confiseur IModerne." Upon the edicts 
he is to pronounce hangs the fate of many a purveyor. 
Is liis appetite keyed to the requirements of his task? 
Will the samples to })e tested respond to the exactions 
of his critical palate? Or must his fealty be paid for 

132 




LES MKDIIATIONS D'UN GOURMAND 
Frontispiece of the fourth year of the " Almaiiaoh des Gourmands' 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

by an indigestion that may postpone his labours in 
behalf of the noblest of the arts ? 

His mien is solemn and his attitude one of intense 
absorption, like that of a great statesman pondering 
some weighty coup d'etat. At the end of the cabinet 
stands a tall buffet with nmnerous shelves laden with 
savoury viands and appetising beverages: a boar's 
head of Troyes, a timbale of red partridges aiLV 
truffes, eels of jNIelun, a cake of Savoy, a mortadelle 
of liyons, a truffled turkey of Perigord, an Italian 
cheese and sausages, a ham of Bayonne, a pate of 
Perigueux, various dainties of Provence, pastries and 
apple- jelly of Rouen, with numerous varieties of 
wines and liqueurs. All of these articles, gravely ob- 
serves the editor in his explanation of the plate, are 
to be successively passed in review by the gourmand, 
inasmuch as they are the subjects of his literary work 
— no other objects of art decorate the cabinet, as noth- 
ing should be allowed to distract the critic. 

It would apjjear at first sight to the uninitiated that 
such a task must prove beyond the capacities of the 
ordinary mortal. But this contingency he has already 
explained at length in a chapter on "Indigestion." 
"It is often much less to excess of eating than to 
the quality of aliments that indigestion is due. One 
person may have eaten ten times more than another 
without inconvenience, and another find himself seri- 
ously disturbed from having partaken of a single dish 
that did not agree. It is the place of the epicure to 
study the natiu'e of his stomach, in order to supply it 
with only such aliments as are homogeneous. INIilk 
foods, hot pastries, etc., which usually agree with 
133 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

women, do not always agree with robust stomachs 
which may be able to digest an ox, but quail before a 
little pot of cream. But where through repeated ex- 
periences one has obtained a perfect knowledge of his 
temperament he may trust to his appetite without 
fear." 

Lack of sufficient variety in alimentation also 
counts for much in stomachic derangements. "Hasty 
pudding and milk," Artemus Ward used to say, "are 
a harmless diet if eaten moderately, but if you eat it 
incessantly for six consecutive weeks it will produce 
instant death." 

As the frontispiece of the fifth volume exhibits a 
splendidly appointed kitchen, with its ranges and 
saucepans in full play, and the amphitryon receiving 
the menu for the dinner from the Washington of his 
kitchen, it may be assumed that the distinguished 
critic proved equal to the occasion just described. 

As, moreover, there is seen suspended from tlie 
chimney three hams of Bayonne from the shops of 
JNI. Pouillan and M. de la Rouille, and on the spits a 
chine of veal from ^Ime. Simon, sirloins from ^I. de 
Launey, legs of mutton from JNI. Darras, venison 
from JNIme. Chevet, fowls from INIme. Biennet, etc., 
it may be further concluded that he had lost none of 
his appetite and still remained a spur to the noble 
emprise of the Jury degustateur. That there are no 
wines visible on the pantry shelves need not trouble 
the reader. No one who has scanned a volume of the 
"Almanach" will doubt for a moment that the chef 
had an abundance for himself, his aid, and the sauces 
that simmer in his pans, or that numerous hampers of 

134 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

fine vintages from M. Tailleur were wanting to wash 
down any repast at which the editor officiated/ 

But these laudations, which form so notable a fea- 
ture of the work under consideration, were a part and 
portion of its inspiration and existence. Without 
them it never would have been written, or at any rate 
its career would have been greatly shortened. After 
all, who would not envy the author his glorious appe- 
tite; or, with his exquisite appreciation, who would 
censure his fondness for pates and his rigour in main- 
taining their high standard? 

With reference to the remarks on the testing of 
dishes, it may be observed that it is comparatively 
easy to decide upon the respective merits of two dif- 
ferent alimentary preparations. It is far more diffi- 
cult to pronounce on wines of fine quality and com- 
pare those that are closely allied. For here the sense 
of smell in particular is called upon to exercise its most 
critical functions; and this sense, after several essays 
at comparison or attempts to place the special aromas 
and ethers that are evolved in the bouquet and seve of 
a vintage, becomes rapidly cloyed. JNIany other condi- 
tions also frequently arise to interfere with absolute 
judgment. The temperature of the wine and mood of 
the atmosphere, one's surroundings at the time, the 
state of one's stomach and consequently of the palate, 
the nature of the viands that accompany the wine — 
aye, the very glass in which its gold or rubies are im- 
prisoned — all exert their influence, and it is best not 

1 "We shall never forget a dinner and each service of which attested 

that eight of us had at M. Tailleur's, the competent master of the alimen- 

in which he made us drink forty tary art." 
bottles of his best wine of all kinds, L 'Al.manach, V^" annee, p. 152, 

135 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

to assert one's self too decisively in the case of a sin- 
gle testing or comparison. 

Concerning a highly important topic — "The Health 
of Cooks" — the "Almanach" discourses at length 
with its accustomed force and originality: 

"The index of a good cook shoukl \)\y without ceasing fi'om 
the saucepans to the mouth, and it is only by thus momentar- 
ily tasting his ragouts that he may determine their precise 
point. His palate, therefore, must be extremely delicate, vir- 
ginal, as it were, so that the least thing may stimulate it and 
advise it of its faults. 

"But the constant fumes of the fires, the necessity of drink- 
ing frequently, and often poor wine, to moisten a parched 
throat, the vapours of the charcoal, humours and biliousness, 
all tend to impair the organs of taste. The palate becomes 
crusted, as it were : it has no longer either that tact or finesse, 
that exquisite sensibility on Avhich depends the susceptibility 
of the taste ; it finally becomes excoriated and as insensible as 
the conscience of an old judge. 

"Le seul moyen de lui rendre cette fleur qu'il a perdue, de 
lui faire reprendre sa souplesse, ses forces et sa delicatessc, 
c'est de purger le Cuisinier, telle resistance qu'il y oppose ; car 
il en est qui, sourds a la voix de la gloire, ne voient aucune 
nccessitc de prendre une medecine lorsqu'ils se portent bien." 

Supplementing his essays on the health and the du- 
ties of the chef and the requirements of the cuisiniere 
is his treatise on the maitre-d'hotel, wherein the quali- 
fications of a steward are most minutely set forth. Of 
all those whose labours have for their object the satis- 
faction of our appetite and promotion of the culinary 
art, the profession of the steward, he insists, calls for 
the greatest number of virtues and the widest know- 

136 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURINIANDS 

ledge. A good maitre-d'hotel should be at once an 
excellent cook, a fine degustateur, a clever purveyor, 
a skilful servitor, an exact calculator, a good conver- 
sationalist, and an efficient and polished agent. He 
should be familiar not only with the theory of the cui- 
sine in all its ramifications, but, if necessary, be able 
to turn his knowledge to practical account. For how 
may he conmiand the respect of the cook who is 
under his orders if he does not thoroughly understand 
his art? How may he regulate the conduct of the 
chef, control his ragouts, and direct his work accord- 
ing to the principles of the art and the special tastes 
of his employer if he is not a very fine critic? 

Efqual competency is demanded with reference to 
his purchases, the varying of his menus, anticipating 
the complaints of a jealous cook, maintaining his au- 
thority over the other servants, and regulating the 
financial part of the kitchen and household, — truly a 
difficult combination to procure. As to his probity, 
the author reasons that one may scarcely expect to find 
the phoenix, and that to the victor naturally belong the 
spoils — that it is better to have a competent officer, 
who can buy to advantage, than a novice who, gaining 
nothing on his purchases, is imposed upon b}?^ the 
venders and cannot control his household expendi- 
tures. "What difference does it make to the employer 
if his steward help himself a little in serving him, pro- 
vided he look after his interests sufficiently and charge 
him only with the market price of a commodity?" 

Upon a good commissary in particular depends the 
success of a club or a restaurant. Without a compe- 
tent purchaser who combines most of the qualities 
137 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

enumerated in the "Alnianiich," the chef must labour 
at a disadvantage; and, in the case of a club, a house 
committee bear the odium of a poor cuisine and the 
maledictions of the members. 

The "Almanach" abounds in piquant aphorisms, 
some of which perhaps will better serve to illustrate 
the spirit of the work than a more lengthy abstract 
of many of the essays themselves : 

"The kitclicn is a countiy in which there are always dis- 
coveries to be made. 

"It is the entrees that cooks usually invest with then- great- 
est cunning, and it is j^rincipally through these that tliey ex- 
pect to be judged. 

"An overturned salt-cellar is to be feared solely when it is 
overturned in a good dish. 

"The table is a magnet which not only draws to itself, but 
joins together all those who approach it. 

"It is as neccssar^^ that the master of the house should un- 
derstand how to carve well as it is for a young girl to dance 
in order to secure a husband. 

"Digestion is the business of the stomach, and indigestion 
that of the doctors. 

"The stomach of a true gourmand, like the casemates of a 
besieged city, should be proof against bombs. 

"Thirteen at table is a number to be dreaded when there is 
only enough to go round for twelve. 

"A good pastry-maker is as rare as a grand orator. 

"It is especially at table that one should attend carefully to 
the matter in hand and consider wliat one is about. 

"True gourmands have always finished their dinner before 
the dessert ; that which is eaten after the roast is done only 
out of pure politeness. 

"Pastry is to the cuisine what figures of rhetoric are to dis- 

138 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

course. An oration without figures and a dinner without 
pastry are equally insipid. 

"There is a precise moment at which every dish should 
be savoured, previous to which or after which it causes only 
an imperfect sensation. 

"Wine is the milk of the old, the balm of adults, and the 
vehicle of the gourmand. 

"Without sauces a dinner were as bare as a house that has 
been levied on by the officers of the sheriff. 

"The et3'mology of the word faisander sufficiently pro- 
claims that the pheasant should be waited for as long as a 
pension from the government by a man of letters who has 
never known how to flatter an}^ one. 

"It is notorious that a dinner, however generous, has never 
disturbed a person who has preceded or followed it by a walk 
of five or six leagues ; and that indigestions arc virtually un- 
known to great pedestrians. 

"With many people a stomach that is proof against every- 
thing is the principle of happiness, and with everybody this 
organ exercises a greater influence than one imagines on the 
acts of life. 

"Life is so brief that we should not glance either too far 
backwards or forwards in order to be happy. Let us there- 
fore study how to fix our happiness in our glass and on our 
plate. 

"lln Amphitryon delicat nc doit pas soufFrir que la galan- 
terie degenere choz lui en scandale; et s'il invite de jeunes et 
jolies femmes ce doit toujours etre avcc leurs maris, et jamais 
avec leurs amants." 

Unfortunately, no menus of the Jury degustateur 
have been ])reserved, though one is presented of the 
celebrated restaurant, the Rocher de Cancale — a din- 
ner of twenty-four covers, served November 28, 1809, 
139 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

at a cost of one thousand francs. Considering the 
elaborateness of the bill of fare, the price was assur- 
edly extremely moderate, including, as it did, four 
soups, foiu" releves, twelve entrees, four large pieces, 
four roasts, and eight entremets, all served in the high- 
est style of the art. 

In many of the best Parisian restaurants to-day no 
figures are attached to the carte, so that one may dine 
without disturbing his digestion by thinking of the 
expense. The awakening comes later, with the ad- 
dition, when, if one be an epicure with a partiality for 
rare vintages, he will be apt to recall Beranger's 
"Voyage au Pays de Cocagne" and its denouement: 



Mais qui viciit detruire , (But who would dispel 

Ce revc enchanteur? This dream all-divine? 

Amis, j'en ai hontc, Friends, to my shame, 

Cost quelqu'un qui monte 'T is the restaurant's claim — 

Apporter le compte The bill of the entrees 

Du restaurateur." And score of the wine.) 

The menu of the dinner at the Rocher will prove 
attractive reading — in marked contrast to the aver- 
age bill of fare, which is so often made up for the 
eye and is generally without originality or distinc- 
tion. What an embarrassment of riches in the en- 
trees! how imposing the large pieces! what a pa- 
geant of delectable entremets! How majestically the 
bisque of crabs leads off the fete, and pike and tur- 
bot j^roudly stem the tide! The comparative ab- 
sence of vegetables need not be criticised, as these 
naturally figure as garnishes of several of the dishes. 

140 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 



The asparagus, too, would take the place of a salad 
which is not included ; and with so varied a programme 
oysters may well have been dispensed with for lack 
of sufficient space. That each individual dish was a 
triumph we may rest assured, or some word of depre- 
ciation for future guidance would certainly have ax)- 
I)eared in the "Almanach." 

Menu de 24< Couverts, pour le Jeudi 
28 Novembre, 1809. 
4 Potages. 
Une bisque d'ecrevisses. Une Julienne aux 

Un potage a la Reine pointes d'asperges. 

au lait d'amandes, Un consomme de 

avee biscotes. volaille. 

4 Releves de Potages. 
Un brochet a la Un turbot. 

Chambord. Une culottc de boeuf 

Une dinde aux au vin de Maderc, 

trufFes. ojarnic de legumes. 



Un aspic de filets 

mignons de perd- 

reaux. 
Une jardiniere. 
Des filets de poularde, 

piques aux truffes. 
Des perdreaux rouges 

au fumet. 
Des filets de mau- 

viette sautes. 
Des scaloppcs de pou- 
larde, au veloute. 

141 



12 Entrees. 

Des filets de lape- 

reaux, en turban. 
Un vol au vent a 

la financiere. 
Des ailerons piques, 

a la chicoree. 
Deux poulets de grains 

au beurre d'ecrevisse. 
Des scaloppcs de sau- 

mon, fi I'espagnole. 
Des filets nn'gnons, 

piques de trufFes. 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 



Second Service. 
4 grosses Pieces. 

Une truite. Des ecrevisses. 

Un pAte de foies gras. Un janibon glace. 

4 Plats de Rot. 



Un faisan. 
Des eperlans. 



Une jatte de blanc- 

manger. 
Un miroton de 

pomnies. 
Des aspcrges en 

branche. 
Des truffes a la 

serviette. 



Des becassines. 
Des soles. 



8 Entremets. 



Une jatte de gelee 

d'orange. 
Un souffle a la 

vanille. 
Des cardons a la 

moelle. 
Des truff'es a la 

serviette. 



This menu, which was termed "illustrious and as- 
tounding" by La Reyniere, tells its own story too well, 
as he observes, to need any comment. It is only to 
})e regretted that there is no record of the accompany- 
ing wines or of the previous training of the guests 
who sat down to the feast. The item nti faisan will 
be understood in the plural, there having been twenty- 
four persons present, and among that number it is to 
])e presumed that more than two or three would stand 
ready to attack a well-hung pheasant resplendent in 
his tail-feathers. Still, tliere are only two poulcifi dc 
fi'raitis specified in the list, which would indicate that 
the menu was strictly one of quality, not of quantity 

142 



L'ALMANACH DES GOURMANDS 

— a thing to coquet and flirt with, rather than to 
charge upon with no thought of the penalty of the 
morrow. As the mention of truffles a la serviette oc- 
curs twice at the end of the lecture, it may be assumed 
that this was considered a doubly important entre- 
mets — the last to leave its perfume in the mouth and 
accentuate the seve difl*used by the final glass of Cha- 
teau Lafite or Clos-Vougeot. On the restaurateur 
and the chef the editor enjoins continued eff'orts look- 
ing to the advancement of the grand art of dining, ex- 
horting them that to cease their exertions would mean 
to recede, and that to maintain their exalted reputa- 
tion they should labour daily as if it were yet to be 
won. 

Altogether, the "Almanach" will be found most re- 
munerative reading by those who peruse it with a 
proper sense of its important aim. We may not hope 
to equal the appetite of the author, it is true, but its 
attentive study will assuredly stimulate appetite and 
amply instruct us in the aesthetics and delights of the 
table. The only dietetic heresy that presents itself to 
the writer is the eulogy of the strawberry as an article 
of diet, for Avhich Linnaeus the botanist and Dr. Bote- 
ler are originally res]:)onsible, it being well known that 
this fruit in gout and rheumatism — two frequent col- 
leagues of good cheer — is often as deadly as port. 
Preserved Wiesbaden or Bar-le-Duc strawberries, 
safely tucked in the folds of an omelette, are less per- 
nicious, and may be partaken of occasionally if con- 
voyed by tlie right wine. The raw fruit should always 
be sparingly indulged in by the epicure; boys and 
women alone may eat it with comparative impunity. 
143 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

To this one exception has been chronicled — "Straw- 
berries and cream render me sad," said JNIme. du 
DefFand; and, remembering ^Nlalherbe's praise of 
women and melons, madame Avisely left them alone. 
Finally, among all those Avho have discoui\sed upon 
the theme, it may be said that La Reyniere comes the 
nearest perhaps in illustrating INIontaigne's expres- 
sion, Vaj't dc la guculc. And, despite the laudations 
of the venders with which it is so generously inter- 
larded, the "Almanach" well merits a full morocco 
binding by Ruban, with dentelle borders a Voiseau, 
and a pate stamped on its covers in gold. 




144 



/ 



/ 




M5>(^^ 



THE CHEF 
From a print after an oUl Dutch master 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 



" Beim vollen Humpen zechen wii-, wiv kriiftigen Geiniianen, 
Und trinken voii dem edlen Bier wie weiland unsere Ahnen ; 
Deuii ill dem edlen Gerstensaft, da sprudelt noeh die alte Kraft." i 



BY the French the Germans are charged with hav- 
ing no cuisine that is worthy of the name, and 
having produced no poet of gastronomy or no work on 
the subject that merits serious attention. Dining at 
midday, and fond of Pumpernickel, what can they be 
but "barbarians," and how may they be expected to 
comprehend the finesse of an art which has been cre- 
ated for the elect among mankind? "Surely," argues 

' (In depths of Seidels tall we Germans find our power. 
As did in years agone our ancestors of j'ore ; 
For in the noble barley-wine there lingers still a might divine. ) 

145 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

De Quincey, "of the rabid animal who is caught din- 
ing at noonday, the homo ferus who affronts the me- 
ridian smi by his inhuman meals, we are entitled to 
say that he has a maw, but nothing resembling a 
stomach. A nation must be barbarous which dined 
in the morning." As with day's decline the sun 
illumes with fairest hues the western sky, and Nature 
gradually prepares for sleep by the restful hour of 
twilight, so it would seem that man, in like manner, 
after the cark and care of the day should refresh him- 
self by the solace that waits upon the evening dinner 
and pleasant companionship ere he too retires for the 
slumbers that are to fit him for the exigencies of the 
morrow. 

But habit is everything, and it is well not to accept 
these aspersions too seriously, and to remember that 
no nation surpasses the Germans in the important 
art of baking, including all forms of breadstufFs and 
pastry. From her inviting Bdckereis and Condi- 
toreis floats an ambrosial fragrance that may not 
be equalled by the patisseries of Paris, the variety of 
her products being as great as their cheapness and 
wholesomeness. One is born a poet, saith the adage; 
it is equally true that the German is a born baker who 
has no superior in his sphere. Perchance German 
cook-books and gastronomical literature have been 
summarily passed upon, and are not uninteresting 
reading, after all. It should be recollected that Fred- 
erick the Great wrote a poem in praise of his cook, 
that INIartin Schookius composed a book on cheese 
entitled "De Aversione Casei," and that still another 
old German work has for its theme the zest of a 

146 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

If'mon-peel — a topic that assuredly calls for consum- 
mate skill in its elaboration. 

Since the latter half of the sixteenth century Ger- 
many has contributed her full share of manuals on 
cookery as compared with most countries. Already, 
about 1500, there appeared a work entitled "Ein 
niitzlichs Buchlin von der Speis des INIenschen." 
Among the more important treatises of the same cen- 
tury were "Ein neu Kochbuch" (1587), by ^larx 
Rumpolt, cook to the Elector of JNIainz and to the 
Queen of Denmark, and Frau Anna Wecker's "Neu 
Kostlich und niitzliches Koch-Buch" (1597). It was 
about this period that INIontaigne, after his travels 
through Italy and Germany, declared that even in 
the inns the Germans paid far better attention to the 
furbishing of their plates and dishes than was the 
case with the hostelries of France. Treatises relat- 
ing to "wohl-schmeckenden Speisen" and "vornehme 
Tafeln" have since continued to multiply in the Fa- 
therland, until German}^ has become fully satisfied 
with her own mode of cookery and such modifications 
of certain French and Italian dishes as accord with 
her chosen ideas of nutrition. 

Yet the German cook-book presents serious draw- 
backs. For, apart from the inevitable tendency of 
tlie Zeittvort to twine itself around the end of well- 
nigh interminable sentences, the characters of the lan- 
guage itself are so trying that a scientific treatise may 
be perused only at the risk of being compelled to re- 
sort to spectacles forever afterwards. The melodious 
measures of Goethe and- Scliiller, the cadences of 
Heine and Lenau, will be found less formidable, the 
147 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

rliythin and f^{)^^' carrying the eye over the typograph- 
ical boulders with greater ease. A German cook- 
book, however, may well deter the most insatiable stu- 
dent from proceeding farther than the initial chapter. 
Think, for example, what the difficulties would be of 
absorbing a volume which presents such a title as this: 
"Die Feinere Kochkunst dargestellt nach den Erfor- 
dernissen unserer Zeit, mit Beriicksichtigung der 
damit in Verbindung stehenden sonstigen Zweigen 
der Gastronomic." 

Fancy endeavouring to solve the true inwardness 
of an ancient Niirnberg treatise which bears this ex- 
planation of its contents: "Vollstandig vermehrtes 
Trincier-Buch, von Tafeldecken Trinciren, zeitigung 
der INIundkoste, Schauessen und Schaugerichten, be- 
nebens xxiv Gast oder Tischfragen." 

And when we reflect that the German author who 
undertakes to elucidate a given theme probes it to the 
very bottom as far as liuman understanding and sci- 
ence can fathom it, we may readily conclude that to 
master the literature of German gastronomy would 
call for stupendous patience on the part of an alien. 

Yet Germany has contributed a volume in the 
French language respecting a province of the nation 
under consideration, wherein the table manners, cus- 
toms, alimentation, and the public and private life of 
the old Germans are most pictiu'esquely and minutely 
set forth. ^ The ancient province of Alsace, where 
forty-two varieties of pates and countless varieties of 

^L'Aiifienne Alsace a Table. Etude cat a la Cour Imp^riale de Colmar. 

HistoriqueetArcheolojfiquesurrAli- Coiinar, Imprinierie et Lithographic 

mentation, les Moeurs et les Usages ■ deCamille Decker, 186:^. Large 8vo, 

Epulaires de I'ancienne Province pp. 269. 
d' Alsace: par Charles Gdrard, Avo- 

148 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

cakes have been in use for several centuries, has ever 
been noted for the excellence of its cooks and its fond- 
ness for good cheer. In the tenth century Bishop 
Uthon of Strassburg viewed with alarm the table ex- 
cesses of the priests of his diocese, which he attempted 
to check by establishing monastic schools. In the 
fourteenth century, on the other hand, Bishop de 
Lyne, who was termed Kappcn-Esser, was charged 
with gross intemperance by the clergy, who averred 
he thought only of the pleasures of the table — gulce 
ehrietatique deditus — and that he was unable to hold 
morning audiences without having previously par- 
taken of a rich soup and a fat capon. 

Dating from early times, Alsace became known as 
the wine-cellar, granary, and larder of the surround- 
ing countries — a paradise and a garden eminently fa- 
vourable for good living. Charles Gerard has proved 
the local Dumas, and his volume, besides its erudite 
presentation of the resources and olden customs of the 
country, contains many interesting gastronomical an- 
ecdotes, such as "Favourite dishes of celebrated per- 
sonages," "Influence of a Rhein carp on a financier 
of the school of Fouquet," "Frying, its nature and 
effect on manners," etc. Assuredly should a nation 
be credited with a natin*al aptitude for gastronomy 
which in the early part of 1700 could devise an ome- 
lette of brook-trout {Forellcu Ei/erkucJien) and cold 
pates of trout ( Forellen Kalte Pasteten ) , to say noth- 
ing of a certain pate of fish (Pdtc de langues de 
car pes et foies de lottes) composed of the tongues o1 
carp, eels' livers, and the tails of crawfish — tlie inven- 
tion of a Strassburg Koch, which he served to the 
149 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Cardinal de Rohan, and which ]\L Gerard defines as 
the supreme hmit of epuhirly eminence. 

The researches of JNI. Gerard phice the national 
dish, Sauerkraut, as an invention dating from beyond 
tlie middle ages and proclaim its origin as distinctly 
Alsatian. The date of the frog's leap into the frying- 
pan lie places in the year 1280, and specifies Alsace as 
the discoverer of liis edible qualities. The potage 
bisque or bisque d'ecrevisses has long been known to 
the epicures of the province, while the merits of 
stuffed crabs w^ere pointed out in the "Oberrheinisches 
Koch-Buch" of Frau S]:)6rlin, wife of a Protestant 
minister of JNIulhausen. Among the strange customs 
described is that appertaining to the olden festival 
called Hirztag, at which time women and maids alone 
had the right to appear in the inns and liquid dis- 
pensaries and avail themselves of the privileges ex- 
tended to men in eating and drinking. On these occa- 
sions any of the male sex who was brave enough 
to appear was seized, stripped of his hat and coat, 
and obliged to pay forfeit by a round of wine — a 
usage thus described by the poet ^Nlorcherosch : 

"Spitzc Schue und Knopflcin dran, 
Die Frau ist Meister und nicht dcr ]Mann." 

(Witli jaunty button'd and pointed shoe, 
Gretschen will riot it over you.) 

No work on cookery in the German language, it is 
true, has obtained a great reputation outside of its 
own country. But although the Teuton is a midday 
diner, a custom that must prove inimical to gastro- 

150 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

nomical perfection and thereby the highest social evo- 
lution, it were extremely unjust to charge him with 
a lack of understanding in eating. On the contrary, 
no one, not even the Gaul, enjoys eating and drink- 
ing more than he, or eats and drinks amid pleasanter 
surroundings during a large portion of the year. The 
open-air restaurants and beer-gardens are a feature, 
and a most delightful feature, of German life. In 
the shaded bowers of the Wirthshaus, under the um- 
brage of horse-chestnuts and limes, to the plash of 
fountains in suburban Gasthof gardens, amid the con- 
sonance of viols and reeds in the attractive temples of 
Gambrinus, do the Germans voice the refrain, 

"Isz, trink, sci frohlich hicr auf Krd', 
Und dcnk nicht dass cs bcsser wird." 

(Eat, drink, be merry, seize the present hour. 
Deem not the future holds a fairer flower.) 

It must not be forgotten that in the course of time 
the cookery of every nation gradually becomes com- 
plementary to the national beverages. Conversant 
with the popular drinks of a people, one may 
promptly form an opinion of their alimentation and 
characteristics. The cookery of Germany has become 
subservient to, and, as it were, revolves around INIiinch- 
ner and Pilsener, Hochheimer and Deidesheimer. 
If, therefore, one cannot appreciate its innumerable 
brews and the juices of the Riesling and the Tram- 
iner, its forms of nutrition will naturally prove dis- 
tasteful, in the same manner tliat the virtues of French 
entrees would be found wanting if deprived of the 
151 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ruby pressings of the Sauvignon and Pinot. The 
rosy Schweinerippchen, after its bath in saltpetre, and 
also Sauerkraut would be impossible without their 
syncretic accompaniment, beer or a German white 
wine; and it is only since the general use of beer in 
the United States that the last-named dish, from being 
considered a vulgar one has become so popular, not- 
withstanding it is usually but a shade of its original 
as one knows it in its own home. The same may be 
said of sausages, in the compounding of which the 
Teuton is master of the world. Different nations, 
like different individuals, enjoy things in their own 
way, and who shall determine whether the Gaul or the 
Teuton makes the most of the fleeting hour, which 
necessarily includes the pleasures attendant upon the 
daily nourishment of man? 

Who that has visited the land of the three fluvial 
graces — the Rhein, the Xeckar, and the Donau — does 
not retain pleasant memories of some native dish par- 
taken of amid picturesque surroundings ?— a Hasen- 
braten, a Pfannkuchen, a duck, a Backwurst, Knack- 
wurst, or a Wienerwiirstle -that fairly melts in one's 
mouth. How lovely those trout which were served at 
the Wolfsbrunnen at Heidelberg, which you savoured 
in the cool of the evening after seeing them caught 
fresh from the spring itself! The Spiitzle and Xu- 
deln and sour sauce, too, which rival the national dish 
of Italy; the veal cutlets and sauted potatoes, which 
one never meets as perfect as in southern Germany, 
and that attain their supreme excellence in a summer 
Gasthof garden, must likewise ever be held in grate- 
ful remembrance. How golden the landscaj^e looked 

152 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

through your Rhein wine Romer, how drowsily the 
clouds floated over the Odenwald, and how delight- 
fully the evening breeze awoke the responsive chords 
of the beeches! In whatever direction one may turn, 
there is always a haven for the hungry and the thirsty. 
No hill is too high, no valley too remote for its font 
of refreshment, where the tap is invariably fresh and 
the shrine of more substantial "restoration" is seldom 
to be despised. On every hand one may find the wel- 
come of an inn, as hearty as Shenstone's, and, where 
tlie nature of the surroundings will allow, one may 
readily verify the lines of the old poet: 

"Nun kommt der grijnc Berg wo selbsten audi nichts fehlt, 
A' on dcni was das Gcmiith ennuntert und erf reuet ; 
Deshalb wird er auch viclfaltiglich erwahlet, 

Er hat den schiinsten Stof zur groston Frohlichkeit." 

(Well stored with all that gladd'neth man. 

The green hill rises, cool and fair ; 
And many a pilgrim, spent and wan, 

Doth quaff from font of Miinchncr there.) 

Clearly, the GemiithUclikcit of the Germans, a word 
for which an equivalent scarcely exists in any other 
language, may be traced to the national beverages and 
an alimentation with which they harmonise — with 
golden opportunities to cultivate it in the Wirthshaus, 
Gasthof, restaurant, and beer-garden. 

In many of the larger restaurants and beer-gardens 
which are conducted on a scale that is well defined by 
the favourite term, "kolossal," the great Speisekarte, 
ornately decorated and rubricated in the olden style, 
is grandly in evidence. A typical index to good cheer 
153 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

may be taken from almost any of the vast breweries of 
^Munich, with tlieir long lists of Braten, Wildpret, 
Pfannengerichte, Eierspeisen, Salat and Compots. 
On some of these appears an epitome of the corps of 
assistants, including the white-aproned waitresses with 
their names and characteristics, and the great array of 
help that is necessary to slake the thirst and appease 
the hunger of a German multitude. The conclusion 
of the Speisekarte of the Lowenbraukeller may be 
cited as an example : 

^ceantiut:^^cr^oita( bet fflcMautation 
SmvcnhtdufcUcv WliiiKhen 

Soncert=(Saa( otcr ©artcn 



1 


Urfula, tie rbcrfeHnerin, 18 i 


21 


Gmilic, 


tie otrantme 


2 


3;l)cre[c, tic ^dnvar^e, 8 


22 


SDcarie, 


tic 3d)aabin 


3 


©rct^i, tie 'Lidt, 13 


23 


fRc^diin 


4 


9)?arie, tie SAamr^e 


24 


ipiltcgart ) 


5 


'Mark, tie Jirolerin, 17 


25 


Wicixk, 


tie 33(onte > ®aUerie 
tic ®(^n>arje ) 


6 


%nna, tie ©(^miegermuttcr, 13 


26 


mark, 


7 


(^ertraut, tie ®d)(an!e, 9 


27 


(5 mm a 


> I. 9?eben|'aat 


8 
9 


l^eni, tie l^urfti^e, 7 
Wlavxe, 6 


28 
29 


(£li|c 
33eth) 


10 


gjJarie, tie l^icfe, 6 


30 


Rlavci 


3 


11 


^cpi 


31 


Zi)dla- 


— ®picl> otcr 1 X^urmjimmcr 


12 


Una 


32 


5)aula 


^ 


13 


^at(n, tie SrlMvabiitiicrin 


33 


5lmauta 1 ,. „ , 


14 


"Diaric, tie 5veuntUd)c 


34 


Vucie 


{■ 11. yiebeniaal 


15 


3:5evcfc 


35 


^ofa 


16 
17 


WUvk, tic ^d)ouc 
33erenifa 


36 
37 


t»ulta 


\ Vinventcrraf^c 


18 


2Inna, tic 3 tide 


38 


?ouife 


I > uutcre IcrrvifvJe 


19 


Labette 


39 


mnvn)( 


20 


3Inna, tie Sraoc 


40 


O^ufti 




^Diese Zahl bedeutet die ununterbrochenen Dienstjahre 
der betr. Kellnerin. 










154 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 



41 Sacilie ^ 

42 .^vinnvt [■ obcve Icrrafcc 

43 5(tcn)cifc ; 

44 @retl)t, tic ^(einc 

45 3;{)evefc, W <Bd)\vciv^t 

46 (SItfc, t^te ©rof^c 

47 Slnna, tie ©(fclanfe 

48 Genji, tie ipiibfd^e 

49 Zoni, tie ©anfte 

50 9)tarie, tie 3Dicfe 



iO ,$lcnucrincii 



1 ®cfd)aft0fiil)vcr 

1 crfter Gafoicr 

2 .^anntc Gafc^icrc 
2 GcremonieriS 

2 33inetcurvJ, 2 Gontroleur^ 
1 ^^roguimm-'iHnlaufcr 
4 5^oftfvirtcn=35cr!aufer 

1 ®art»erolner 

2 @arberobe»(Iafi5icre 
8 ©artcrobe-Oklnlfctt 

1 2?elccipet)»3lufbeamf)rer 

1 erfter 9}cetjger 

2 jiveite SDcet^i^cr 

1 l'e()vjuniie (5)iccoIo) 

6 ®d)entfa[vJiere 

6 Gin[d)enfer 

1 .^auemeifter 

1 .^auefc^reiner 

1 '3)touteur fiir clcctrifrf^e 3?clcud)tunc| 

1 X^auijgartner 

1 ^aucffncc^t (Sieraufjiebev) 

1 ?auf6ur[d)e 

2 33eftccfput3cr 

1 Sud)(M(terin iint 1 35uffcttame 
4 33uffctt)vimen 

1 erfte unb 1 jiveite ^ud)cnbc[d)Iiepcriit 
155 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

1 SOcipjeugbcfc^Ucpertn 

1 Dbfr^JUnttn {chef de rxisine) 

1 crftc .Uod)iii (fiir 23ratcn, OU-flucjcl u. JlMlbpret) 

1 jjveite Md)in (fiir 5)fanneniierid)te u. 9Uigouti3) 

1 brtttc .^orfnn (fiir Csicmiife itnb Cficrfpeifcn) 

1 incrte .Uiutin (fiir ^picfi^ unt Slofttn-aterci) 

4 Xiocl)prviftitanttnncn (.Koc^frdulein) 

1 crftc unt ] 5>veite .^iicl)enmagt> 

1 XiupfcrpuUcriu 

1 '9}uit'd)en fiir i2pctfeauf5Uii im Sriiuftiibcl 

1 9}?atd)cn fiir ^pcifcauf^ug im c\vo^en i5aal 

1 9)?at'd;cn f. Spcifeaufjui) f. Qiallcrie u. 9?cbcnfaal 

3 iMcrmiit'd^cn 

1 2Gafd)nia3'D 
6 .<pauiJmac|be 

135 3-^crfoncii 

The cookery of Germany is, on the whole, hoth ap- 
petising and M'holesome. In the better class of restau- 
rants and hotels it has absorbed many modes of prepa- 
ration from France, combining these with its own. 
Where cookery has stood still in the latter country, it 
has advanced in the former; and one may dine as well, 
perhaps, in many of its smaller towns as in most pro- 
vincial hostelries beyond its borders. Its private 
cookery remains more distinct and preserves its local 
fla^'Oln^ If the French are more successful with the 
chicken, the Germans may be relied upon to do full 
justice to the goose and duck. Nowhere does the fowl 
A\hic]i saved Rome rise to the sublime heights that it 
does in the district of the Vosges, not only as a roast 
with "Compot," but in its more ethereal perfection — 
the goose-liver "Pastete," or pate de foie gras. 

If one desires a roast goose after the German mode, 

156 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

let him j)roceed after the following manner: Rub a 
young dressed goose overnight with salt, pepper, sage, 
thyme, and sweet marjoram inside and out; in the 
morning prepare a dressing as follows — a large hand- 
ful of stoned raisins and Zante currants, bread crumbs, 
a couple of sour apples chopped fine^ and one mealy 
potato, with butter mixed in, and all well rolled to- 
gether, but put no spices in the dressing. For the 
gravy, boil the giblets in a little water and mash the 
liver in a spoonful of flour, chop the gizzard, stir these 
in the liquid they were boiled in, add it to the gravy in 
the dripping-pan, sprinkle in a little thyme, sage, and 
sweet marjoram, and it is done. Serve the gravy 
separately. When cooked and served, garnish with 
sliced lemons and parsley. A "Compot" of some 
kind, like Hagenmark, cherries with Kirsch, or even 
apple-sauce, if not too tart, shoidd complete the 
dish. 

The duck may be similarly treated ; but a goose or 
duck a V Allemande would scarcely meet with favour 
in France, where the rules are laid down so strictly 
that even a slight deviation from accepted canons 
would be met by a hiss from parquet and gallery alike. 
Thus the "Almanach des Gourmands," in speaking 
of the young wild duck, or albran, which in October 
becomes a canardeau and in November a canard, men- 
tions, among various ways of jjreparing it, that of 
serving it with turnips, adding that this honour be- 
longs more strictly to monsieur son pere. This gas- 
tronomic slip — that of serving turnips with a wild 
duck — on the part of La Reyniere, who is rarely 
caught napping in anything relating to foods or food 
157 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

preparations, aroused the ire of Savarin, ^^llo pro- 
tests against it in these vigorous words: "The adjunc- 
tion of such a vegetable as this to this noble game 
would be for a young wild duck an improper and 
even injurious proceeding, a monstrous alliance, a 
dishonourable degradation." On the other hand, Sa- 
varin himself was roundly denounced by M. de 
Courchamps for assigning a truffled turkey a place 
among tlie roasts instead of among the large pieces of 
the first service. This culinary heresy, he states, has 
lessened the esteem in which ^I. Brillat-Savarin has 
been held in other respects, and seriously hurt the rep- 
utation of his book. The ethics of gastronomy, it will 
be seen, are as marked as those of society, and the ar- 
rangement of a bill of fare calls for as much finesse 
as do the functions of a chaperon. 

While the pate de foie gras is a dish of modern 
times, the ancients nevertheless knew the secret of en- 
larging the liver of the goose ; but with the relapse into 
barbarism the secret became lost, to remain undiscov- 
ered until the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
Alsace is the chosen home of the goose, and this fowl 
lias rendered its capital more celebrated than the siege 
of 1870 or the marvellous facade and clock of its IMiin- 
ster. "]My idea of heaven," said the Rev. Sydney 
Smith, referring to the Strassburg product, "is eating 
foies gras to the sound of trumpets!" For although 
the piite is produced in numerous localities on tlie Con- 
tinent, in no other place does it attain the superlative 
bloom and delicacy that it does in tlie more important 
manufactories of tlie historic city on the 111. To think 
of Strassburg is to think of Doyen and his confreres 

158 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

and their incomparable productions, around which 
rise the Gothic glories of the mediaeval fane, the 
quaintly gabled houses embellished by the craft of the 
wood -carver, the statues of Gutenberg and Kleber, 
and the town's great girdles of fortifications and inner 
ramparts. 

It is said the pate de foie gras is the invention of a 
Norman cook named Close, who was in the employ 
of the INIarechal de Contades, militarj'- commandant 
of the province from 1762 to 1788. On the retire- 
ment of the marechal, his cook remained in Strass- 
bin-g, and began the manufacture of the dish which 
had rendered the table of his employer famous. There 
were truffles in the Wasgenwald, with trained dogs 
to hunt them; the goose everywhere stood ready for 
sacrifice; while the near-by vineyards of Neuwiller, 
IMorsbrunn, and Westhausen contributed their wines 
in abundance as its fluid concomitant. But the piite 
did not reach its highest excellence until some time 
afterwards, when Doyen, a pastry-cook of great 
genius, already celebrated for his cJiaussons of veal 
and inimitable apple-puffs, substituted the blacker, 
larger, and more fragrant truffle of Perigord, adding 
a bouquet-garni composed of numerous spices. Upon 
the proper blending of these depends to a large extent 
the success of the dish, just as the special flavour of 
a brand of champagne results from the precise ad- 
justment of its liqueur. 

All through Alsace, wherever ponds or streams ex- 
ist, may be seen daily vast flocks of geese during the 
summer and autumn, screaming, splashing, and div- 
ing in the water. The landscape is white with them, 
159 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

and the plain resounds with their ehunour. Each 
flock, which often numbers a thousand, has its goose- 
herd and goose-dog. At dawn the herder sounds his 
reveille, beginning to assemble his charges from the 
most remote part of the village or hamlet. These take 
their place in the procession of their own accord, until 
the ranks are complete, and they eagerly wend their 
way to the coveted goal. Here they remain until 
evening, when, at a summons from the herder, the re- 
turn journey is accomplished, each individual flock 
leaving the j^halanx on arriving near its home. Less 
idyllic is the life of the town goose, when large ponds 
and succulent herbage are not readily accessible, the 
birds being confined in yards where, in place of a 
daily round of bathing and gossij^ing, they are com- 
pelled to watch the flight of the storks overhead and 
mark the monotonous passing of the hours as they are 
tolled from the Rathhaus tower. Nearly every other 
house or yard of the poorer classes has its geese, the 
young fowls alone being utilised for their livers. In 
late October or early November the fattening begins, 
a process lasting usually from two to three weeks, the 
prized livers — the true "golden egg'' of the bird of 
St. INIichael — then weighing from two to three pounds. 
The humanitarian will protest against the cruelty 
of gorging the fowl to repletion, depriving it of drink, 
and imprisoning it in close cages to gratify the vora- 
city of man. Yet it must be admitted that hith- 
erto everything possible to the maintenance of the 
health and pleasure of the subject has been lavishly 
supplied, and that a brief span at most would elapse 
ere time must claim its victim. The fox and the goose 

100 




< 

CO pq 

o ■= 

O S 

H o 

X 5 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

have always been closely associated, and what applies 
to one may well apply to the other. "Certainly," rea- 
sons Bulwer, "in the. chase itself all my sympathies 
are on the side of the fox. Bnt if all individuals are 
to give way to the happiness of the greatest number, 
we must set off against the painful fate of the fox the 
pleasurable sensation in the breasts of numbers which 
his fate has the honourable privilege to excite." With- 
out the inconveniences that the Strassburg goose is 
compelled to undergo in behalf of the metamorphosis 
of its liver, the list of plats de predilection were shorn 
of one of its greatest attractions, and a city now of 
world-wide fame must soon drag out a monotonous 
existence and be forgotten unless by the student of 
architecture — a fact duly set forth in the folio wing- 
stanza : 

"Strasbourg tire vanite 
De ses pates de foie; 

Cette superbe cite 

Ne doit sa prosperity 
Qu'aux oies!" 

(Can roasted Philomel a liver 

Fit for a pie produce?- — 
Fat pies that on the Rhein's sweet river 
Fair Strassburg bakes. Pray, who 's the giver? 

A goose ! ) ^ 

' It should be distinctly stated that vengeance. But inasmuch as no 

the rendition is by the late Rev. authorship is assigned to the poem 

Francis Mahony (requiescat in by the versatile bard, and as one 

pace!). Recallinj? his scathing- stric- must be on guard most of the time 

ture on "The Rogueries of Tom against the subtile spirit of fun and 

Moore," one were unwise not to malice which pervades his pages, it 

mention the name of the scholarly is probable that both the French song 

paraphrast and poet, for fear that and the rendition are by the same 

he might arise to wreak summary accomplished hand. 

161 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

One should taste a pate in Strassburg itself on a 
crisp November daj^ after a protracted stroll through 
the sleepy town. Then one may saunter anew through 
its mediaeval streets and labyrinthine corridors to view 
the JNIiinster whose gargoyles glower so weirdly in 
the moonlight, ere pausing at the Luxhof or the Spa- 
ten, where cool fountains of JMlinchner continually 
flow. 

That the pate de foie gras is a factor of gout and 
a prolific cause of indigestion, as is commonly as- 
serted, is true to the same extent that holds good with 
many other viands when inordinately indulged in or 
partaken of too frequently. It was never intended to 
be eaten by the "terrine," and much also depends 
upon its freshness and the source of its maimfacture. 
A generous slice of a fresh authentic Strassburg pate, 
eaten with bread, need hold no terrors for a healthy 
digestion, or prove other than a source of the most de- 
lightsome recollections. Savouring it, one may again 
sunmion the surroundings of its native land — the ver- 
dant meads of the Alsace plain, the herder tending his 
argent flocks, the soft contours of the Vosges outlined 
against the distant sky. 

But the alimentary resources of Germany are no- 
where revealed to greater advantage than in the in- 
numerable forms of the sausage, and it may well be 
questioned whether the songs of the Lorelei are not, 
after all, inspired by the perfection of this product, 
rather than called forth by the beauties of the Lurlen- 
berg or the merits of the vineyards of the Rheingau. 

To become a connoisseur of sausages in all their pro- 
tean phases is no simple task. Only a German may 

162 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

analyse intelligently all the species and varieties, from 
the huge Cervelat of Braunschweig and goose-liver 
TriifFelwurst of Strassburg to the Salamis of Gotha 
and Blutwurst of Schwaben. And as the sausage is 
fashioned with a special view to its harmonious com- 
bination with beer, it is self-evident that one must be 
a beer-drinker of experience in order to pronounce 
upon the virtues of a given kind. "Wurst" and 
"Durst," Uhland long since pointed out, not only 
rhyme, but belong together in a material way. But 
by this he in no wise implied that one might choose a 
variety at random, with no thought of consonance as 
regards its liquid accompaniment, or even that one 
should be unmindful of climatic conditions. Thus the 
variety that blends best with the dark, potent Gersten- 
saf t of Niirnberg as one quaffs it in great Seidels thick 
with its head of creamy foam in the ISIohrenkeller, or 
in cool Steins in the Bratwurst-Glocklein, would be 
entirely out of place as a complement to the amber 
Pilsener of Austria, the Weiss beer of Berlin, or even 
the many malt extracts of Wiirttemberg. It is like- 
wise equally easy to understand that a particular sau- 
sage which might appeal to one in Hanover might be 
utterly incongruous to the climate of the Elbe or the 
Neckarthal. 

The delicate Bockwurst, composed of veal and 
pork, should be used with Bock beer, for whicli it was 
especially designed. The juicy Knackwurst, with its 
flavour of garlic, which belongs to the family of the 
Frankfiu't and Wienerwurst, is eminently worthj^ its 
exalted place as a garnish to Sauerkraut, where the 
JNIettwurst and the Schwertenmorgen would sound a 
163 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

discordant note. To determine the precise kind that 
should be taken with the Miinchner Hof-Briiu, as it 
is dispensed in the Cafe and Garten of the Hotel 
Royal at Stuttgart, where the regal beer of INIunich 
reaches its apotheosis, would require a more extended 
experience than might be contributed by the writer. A 
Knackwiu'st, possibly, may be suggested din-ing the 
summer, and a Bratwurst in winter. And yet this 
would depend largely upon the hour of the evening, 
as well as on the recommendations of the Kellnerin. 
Not more dissimilar are the hams of the thick -jowled 
swine of Westphalia and those of the long-snouted 
brindled hogs of Rothenbiu'g an der Tauber, than are 
the various sausages of different districts. Indeed, 
with the sausage alone Germany might form a ram- 
part round the world, and float a navy upon her daily 
tide of beer. 

Of the innumerable varieties, the well-known Cer- 
velat is the largest, and of these the most colossal come 
from Braunschweig, which also produces the finest 
Knack- and Zungenwiirste, the finest truffled geese- 
liver as well as calves' -liver sausages coming from 
Strassburg. Although the Plockwurst, the diminu- 
tive Wienerbriihwiirstchen, the tiny Liibecker Sau- 
cisschen, the Schlackwurst, and very many other kinds 
are not included in the subjoined list relating to this 
specialty, its perusal will be found of absorbing interest 
by the connoisseur, and its study remind the too unob- 
servant traveller who has sojourned in Germany of, 
alas! how many neglected opportunities. The quota- 
tions are given in marks and kilograms, the mark 
equalling twenty-five cents and the kilogram being 

164 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

equivalent to a little over two pounds. The record 
being that of a north-German shop, southern Ger- 
many is only meagrely represented, and the list sounds 
its own praises too well to call for comment: 
Preis Verzeichniss. 





Per Kilo. 


Per Kilo. 


Brauenschweiger. 


M. 


Pf. 


Gothaer. 


M. 


Pf. 


Cervelatwurst 


4. 




Fcinc Leberwurst, 






Mettwurst 


3. 


60 


geraucliert 


3. 


60 


Triiffcllcbcrwurst 


4. 




Knackwiirste, Paar 




35 


Sardellcnleberwurst 


B. 


60 


Jagdwiirste 




65 


Feine Leberwurst 


a. 




Zungenblutwurst 


3. 


20 


Zungenblutwurst 


3. 


20 


Blutwui'st 


2. 


80 


Blutwurst, ge- 






Paaszsiilze 


3. 


60 


rauchert 


2. 


40 


Thiiringer. 






Frische Sulze in 






Cervelatwurst 






Blase 






Schwertenmorgen 


2. 


80 


Blut und Leber 






Blutwurst, frische, 






wiirste, Stiick 




25 


haussch 


2. 


80 


Gothaer. 






Knackwiirste, Paar 




40 


Cervelatwurst I 


3. 


60 


Westfdltischer. 






II 






Schinkenroulade 


4. 




" homoopatische 




Strassbiirger. 






" Grobschnitt 






Ganselebcrtriiffel- 






Salamis 


4. 




wurst 


7. 




Mortadella ge- 






Kalbslebertriiffel- 






kocht 


4. 




wurst 


4. 






Per Kilo. 




Per Kilo. 


Gottinger. 


M. 


Pf. 




M. 


Pf. 


Mettwurst 






Salamis di Verona 






Colmar. 






Mortadella di 






Ganseleber- 






Bologna 






triiffelwurst 




7 








165 













THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Per Kilo. Per Kilo. 

Wiener. M. Pf. Jancr'sche. M. .Pf. 

Selchv.'iirstchcn, Bratwiirste, Paar 4<5 

Paar 25 Ucgenshurger. 

Saucisschcn 13 Wurst, Paar 

Frankfurter. Berliner. 

Bratwiirste, Er})s\vurst, Stiick 65 

Paar 45 Schombcrgcr. 

Dclikatcsswiirstchcn 

How they shine in their silken skins, these triumphs 
of tlie Metzgerei, seen through the plate-glass of a 
Delikatessen shop — ebon and bronze, russet and red, 
blonde and grey, mottled and veined, of all hues and 
all sizes: long and slender, plump and fat, curved 
like a crescent, round-barrelled and egg-shaped, as if 
their juices and spices were eager to be set free; 
some that gain in succulence by time; others that, 
like the rose, have but their hour in which to be 
plucked. 

An essentially south-German dish is the INIetzel- 
suppe — the "bouillabaisse" of Swabia — in which the 
sausage plays an important role, but which, to be ap- 
preciated, requires an essentially German taste as well 
as a digestion without limit. This consists of several 
preparations of freshly killed pork, including soup, 
bacon, and sausages wath Sauerkraut, the sausages 
usually being the Leber and the Blutwurst. It has 
found its Thackeray in Uliland, whose poem has be- 
come a classic, although, with the possible exception of 
the bacon and Sauerkraut, the alien will find the poem 
preferable to the dish. 

166 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

With a choice of a different soup for every day in 
the year, the German does not lack for variety in the 
stepping-stone of the dinner. With all of these the 
stranger may not be in sympathy, and in none of them 
will he find the equal, as an all-round preface to the 
principal repast, of a j)erfect Julienne. But the po- 
tato soup, the native pot-au-feu, and even the soup in 
which beer is an important ingredient, have their mer- 
its when well prepared. Nor is the boiled beef with 
horseradish sauce, which usually follows the soup, to 
be despised, notably in warm weather, when rich and 
heavy viands cloy. One would be equally lacking in 
appreciation were he to lose sight of another dish we 
owe to Germany, the "marinirte," or sour-spiced her- 
ring — that offset to Katzenjarnmer and noon-restorer 
of a jaded appetite and a parched tongue. The 
Schmierkase, or whey-cheese, when cream is employed 
in its composition and the green of fresh chives enters 
as an adjunct to please the eye and the palate, surely 
requires no praises, whatever may be said to the con- 
trary of the variety whose very name one thinks of in 
a whisper. 

Such dishes as Szegediner Schwein's Goulash mit 
Sauerkraut, Paprica Schnitzel mit Ungarischem 
Kraut, and Ungarisches Goulash mit Spiitzle — tri- 
umphs of the Hungarian and Viennese Kochkuust — 
seldom turn out satisfactory in alien hands. The 
Spiitzle and Nudel are two farinaceous dishes that 
also call for a native cook to serve in perfection. The 
Spatzle is of south-German origin, and tastes best 
when it flanks a viand with a tart sauce and has a 
167 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Rheiii wine to keep it company. This observation ap- 
plies more strictly to its native home, the virtues of 
German dishes and German cigars being most ap- 
parent amid their natural atmosphere. Indeed, who 
shall say that the "Pfarrer von Kirchfeld" or the col- 
ourful strains of "Sataniel" would seem the same if 
transported oversea? Climate, the hour, the environ- 
ment — all the conditions of the entourage exercise a 
marked influence on many things, especially on the 
pleasures of taste. The Zeller that seems so delicious 
with the chicken in a south-German restaurant is apt 
to prove a delusion elsewhere; and even the best of 
Aifenthaler and Assmanshauser, of which one may 
retain a pleasant remembrance, must fade before a 
good Bordeaux. The beer of Germany, when prop- 
erly cared for and when allowed to rush swiftly from 
the wood, alone preserves a large portion of its deli- 
cious tonical freshness wherever partaken of. Like 
an omelette souffle, beer has its moment, and once 
started towards the Seidel or Stein, its flow should be 
as uninterrupted as the course of a mountain brook 
that, with music and song and freighted with coolness, 
comes dancing down from the distant hills to slake the 
thirst of the vale below. 

Of game, the hare and the partridge have always 
been held in great esteem by the Germans; and while 
the nati\'e Rebhuhn may not compare with our own 
prince of feathered game-birds, the ruff'ed grouse, the 
German hare has unquestionable merits when pre- 
pared as the favourite Hasenbraten, HasenpfefFer, 
and Hasenriicken gespickt with Sahnen sauce. Even 
Goethe sounds a "Hoch!" when he thinks of the game 

168 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

he has secured, and smacks his lips in anticipation of 
its a^Dpearance on the table/ 

The mj'steries of the sandwich in all its possibilities 
are unknown to Germany. But amends are made by 
the attractions of tlie Kalter Aufschnitt which takes 
its place, where slices of veal are surrounded by slices 
of Cervelat, ham, and tongue, and thin cuts of Leber- 
wurst with pickles and hard-boiled eggs cut in rounds 
to form a frame, and rye bread and mustard a discre- 
tion. As for the Kuchen — light, wholesome, and in- 
viting — its forms are legion, though these belong more 
strictly to the supper-table or to that phase of femi- 
nine entertaiimient termed "The Coffee." The com- 
mon and often excessive use of the caraway-seed in 
cakes and breadstufFs is nevertheless to be deplored, 
however great its merits as a carminative. 

Dumas tells the story of the excellent cake called 
madeleine, an entremets which all who have been in 
France will remember. Is it a flower of tlie Vosges, 
indigenous to Alsace, that has been transplanted 
across the border? — it must have been the invention 
of the German Kucheukuu,st. This is the account of 
the madeleine as it appears in the "Grand Diction- 
naire de Cuisine": 

"A tourist-friend who was at Strassburg, and who started 
out on his travels a little late, expecting to reach the next 

^ " Es lohnet mir heute 
Mit doppelter Beute 
Ein Elites Geschick ; 
Der redliche Diener 
Brintyt Hasen und Huhner 
Zur Kuche zuruck ; 
Hier find ich gefang-en, 
Auch Vogel noch hangen. 
Es lebe der Jager, 
Es lebe sein Gluck ! " 

169 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

village before dark, was unsuccessful in finding a shelter until 
nearly midnight, when he perceived the spire of a distant 
church, and soon afterwards the welcome raA^s of a light that 
seemed to emerge from some subterranean abode. Knocking 
at the door, a gruff voice demanded : 

" 'Who is it, and what do you want?' 

" 'I am a traveller, wear}' and worn, and well-nigh starved. 
For heaven's sake, let me in.' 

"With this the door was unbarred by a man of savage as- 
pect whose hair and beard were covered with flour, and who 
was naked to the waist. 

" 'Come in, and make haste,' he said in a cavernous voice ; 
and a large room was disclosed to the traveller the interior of 
which was lighted by the fires of an immense oven. The door 
was then re-barred by the forbidding-looking occupant. 

" 'Pardon, Monsieur,' said the traveller, little at ease. 'I 
have just completed sixteen or eighteen leagues with scarcely 
a mouthful ; cannot I buy something to appease my hunger, 
and have a couch to lie on?' 

" 'I have only my own bed,' replied the man, in his gruff 
voice; 'as to something to eat, that is not wanting — it re- 
mains to be seen if it will please you.' 

"And opening a cupboard, he produced a basket containing 
a dozen or so of oval-shaped cakes of a fine golden hue. 

" 'Try these,' he said to the traveller, 'and tell me what you 
think of them.' 

"When the basket was emptied, he asked, 'What do you 
think of my madeleines?' 

" 'Something to drink first,' muttered the traveller in a 
strangled voice. 

'"The cupboard was opened anew, and uncorking a bottle 
covered with dust, the baker filled two glasses, passing one 
to the stranger. 

" 'Drink,' he said ; 'I don't wish my cakes to choke you.' 

170 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 

"The glass was emptied at a draught, when the visitor 
passed it to be refilled, — it was an excellent Bordeaux. 

" 'Your health, my friend ; 3'ou have given me one of the 
most delicious repasts that I have ever had. But tell me what 
do you call these lovely cakes ?' 

" 'What ! don't you know the madeleincs of Commercy .f" 

" 'You mean to say I am at Commercy ?^ 

" 'Yes, and, without knowing it, you have eaten the best 
cakes in the world.' " 

Se non e vero e hen trovato — the madeleine still re- 
mains to gladden the traveller. They bring it now in 
little boxes of a dozen — flat on the top and grooved 
like a shell underneath, the colour a rich golden brown 
— as the train halts for a moment at the town on the 
Meuse where Cardinal de Retz wrote his memoirs. 

One of the earliest of German cook-books, pub- 
lished at Strassburg in 1516, and now of the utmost 
rarity, bears for its title "Kuchenmeisterey," or the 
mastery of cake-making. Perchance were one to turn 
its faded Gothic leaves, some forgotten master-stroke 
of the baker might reveal itself, to vie with the made- 
leine in popularity and add to the alread}^ endless list 
of farinaceous Leckerhissen and Frauenessen, wherein 
the Germans have no superiors. 

The storj^ of the madeleine suggests that of the 
Vienna roll, which, it is said, owes its origin to the in- 
vestment of Vienna by the Turks. During the pro- 
tracted siege of the city, when the town had become 
almost reduced to stai'vation and the position of the 
enemy was imknown, a baker was making his last 
batch of bread. His little son, who had been amus- 
ing himself with his marbles and drum, had gone to 
171 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

bed, leaving a marble on the drum-head. The baker 
kept on with his baking and attending to his ovens, 
sitting down between times to meditate on his prob- 
able fate when the final loaf was gone, and gleaming 
cangiars and ferocious janizaries had begun their 
work of carnage. Suddenly his attentive ear was ar- 
rested by an unaccustomed vibratory sound proceed- 
ing from the drum, while his eye perceived a con- 
tinuous dancing movement of the marble. Soon it 
became apparent to him that tlie vibration was caused 
by forces working on the fortifications without — the 
steady pounding of mattock and pickaxe — and that 
the undermining of the walls had begun almost at his 
door. At once his loaves were forgotten, and, has- 
tening to sj)read the alarm, the enemy was attacked 
unawares and successfully routed. The following 
day the baker was summoned before the emj)eror. 

"What reward do you claim for your services? — 
you have saved the city," said the emperor. 

"I would serve the bread for the palace," replied 
the artist of the loaves, "and I would have my rolls 
shaped like the Crescent we have conquered." 

A favourite convivial song of the Fatherland, 
with its rollicking strain, may not be omitted from a 
German Speisekarte. The words are by a fomier 
minister of education, von JNIuehler, of Prussia; the 
music that of the dance "La INIadrilena." It should 
be sung in chorus and led by one who is light on his 
feet and a master of the side-step, with the sonorous 
instrumentation of viols and horns to lend it additional 
spirit and swing: 



172 



A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 



BEDENKLICHKEITEN 



(Heinrich von Muehler, 1842. 
Mtinter. 



Bis 1872 Preussischer Cultusminister.) 

Spanischer Tanz: La Madrileua. 




1. Grad' ans rteni Wirthsliaus jiun konini' ich her- aiis;.. Stra - sse, wie 

2. Was fiir eiu acliief Ge-sicht, Atond, iiiacbst<leini<lu? Ein An - ge 
;i. Und die La - ti-r - iieii erst, was muss icli seliii ! Die kiiii - iien 
4. Al - les im Star - mo rings, Gro - sses und Klein ; Wag' ich dar - 




wun-der- llch siehst du mir aus! Rech - ter Hand, lin - ker 

hat er auf, eins hat er zu? Du wirst be - trun - ken 

al - le nicht gra - de uiehr stehn;.. Wa - ckeln und fa - ckehi 

un - ter mich, nvich-tern al - leiuj... Daa scbeiut be - denk - lich 

h - 



Hand, 
sein, 
die 
niir 




m 



--:^- 






=3*q 



^ss^=^s5= 



:^-^»- 



^ 



bei - des ver-tauscht 
das sell' ich hell : . . 
Kreuzund die Quer:. 
ein Wa - ge - stiick! 



Stra - sse. 
Sella- ine 
Scliei-nen 
Da geh' 



ich mer-kewohl, du hist be-ranscht! 
dich, schiime dicli, al - ter (Je - sell! 
be - trun-ken mir al - le-sammt sclnver! 
ich lie - ber in's Wirthshaus zu-riick ! 




173 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Wliile the Germans have not yet adopted apple- 
sauce with green goose or cranberries with turkey, no 
fault can be found with their admirable choice of the 
"Compot" in general as an accessory and grace-note 
to the roast. One may even forgive them the taste 
which ])ermits them to serve the noted hams of West- 
phalia uncooked, in view of the excellence of their 
beer, their admirable Kuchen, and the merits of their 
rolls and sweets. Besides cakes innumerable, the lar- 
der of the Hausfrau fairly groans with "Compots," 
some form of which is invariably served with roast 
meats, poultry, or game. And inasmuch as woman in 
Germany is created for the special purpose of min- 
istering to the comforts, the tastes, and the selfish 
wishes of man, independent of her own inclinations, 
it may be assumed that her natural fondness for sweets 
is shared equally by the opposite sex. 

One may or may not be impressed with the merits 
of the German Kochkiinst in all its branches, whicli 
perhaps requires a native or a seasoned taste to be esti- 
mated at its just and proper worth. But that it com- 
ports with those whom it chiefly concerns, and that it is 
appreciated by all true sons of the Fatherland, will 
admit of little doubt when one considers the national 
Gemuthlichkeit, or views the profound deliberation 
that the perusal of a Speisekarte always evokes from 
the Gast, the Wirth, and the Herr Oberkellner. 




174 







PROMENADE NUTRITIA'E 
Frontispiece of " Le Gastronome Franc;ais" (1828) 




THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 



" Depuis longtemps .i'avais iiii mot a dire de BrillatSavarin. Cette 
figure, souriante plutot que riante, ce demiventre, cet esprit et cet 
estomac de bon ton, me tentait." 

Charles JIonselet. 



MOST noted of literary tributes to the table is 
that of Brillat-Savarin, who has discoursed on 
gastronomy with all the knowledge and discursive- 
ness, with all the verve and raciness displayed by 
Ninon de I'Enclos in descanting on love in her letters 
to the Marquis de Sevigne. He is at once the cory- 
pheus of good cheer and its most refined exponent. 
Few subjects are as difficult to treat without gross- 
ness as those relating to the gratification of the appe- 
tite, the pleasures of eating and drinking, which he has 
handled with such felicitous skill. Accompanying 
him along his alluring ambages, whose aisles are redo- 
175 • 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

lent of truffles and vol-au-vents in lieu of balsams and 
flowers, all other arts appear secondary to that of gas- 
tronomy; for through it alone, it becomes obviously 
manifest, may its sister arts receive their proper in- 
spiration and man attain that hygienic beatitude which 
is essential to the greatest creative genius. 

Whether he was as accomplished in reality as he 
appears upon the printed page, whether his practice 
was equal to his theory, — a question some of his con- 
temi^oraries have disputed, — is of trivial moment in 
view of the abiding attractiveness of the "Physiologic 
du Gout." In his essay the distinction of a gour- 
mand and a gourmet was first distinctly set forth, and 
throughout its length and breadth the topic is dis- 
cussed with the dexterity that the author would ob- 
serve in the preparation of his favourite fondue. 
Rarely has a subject found a writer whose qualities 
so eminently fitted him for its elaboration. With a 
touch light as gossamer, he has run the entire gamut 
of taste, investing his theme with new and subtle har- 
monies. The pheasant and the turkey have gained in 
savour since he has passed them under review, and the 
truffle derived an added flavour through the sixth 
Meditation. 

In viewing the portrait of Savarin, we see before 
us a man of imposing presence, full-faced and florid, 
large, massive, robust, with bright eyes, rounded chin, 
and sensuous mouth. The high, broad forehead and 
protuberances above the eyebrows denote the reason- 
ing and imaginative mind, while the full nostrils and 
lips point to a highly developed ])liysical organism — 
to one who might be a lawyer, physician, lianker, or 

176 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

diplomat, but whose features in any event proclaim 
the genial companion, the ready raconteur, and one 
upon whom the pleasures of the senses exercise an im- 
portant influence. It was this nice adjustment of the 
mental and physical, this happy balance of mind and 
being, that combined to produce a work which may 
justly be classed among the most original of the nine- 
teenth century. 

"To fulfil the task I propose to myself," observes 
the author in his preface, "it was necessary to be a 
physician, a physiologist, and even more or less of a 
classical scholar." To these qualifications he added 
those of a thorough man of the world, a natural epi- 
cure, a keen observer, a metaphysician, and a writer 
unusually gifted with style and sententiousness of ex- 
pression. Impressed by his masterly grasp of his sub- 
ject. La Reyniere, on reading the volume for the first 
time, immediately proclaimed its supremacy, assert- 
ing that it should open the doors of the Academy if 
they were to be opened by a superior mind. Among 
the many recognitions of the writer's genius none is 
more appreciative than that of Balzac, whose "Physi- 
ology of JNIarriage" was inspired by the "Physiology 
of Taste." Treatises innumerable on gastronomy 
have since appeared, but few are worthy of serious 
consideration, the majority being more or less offen- 
sive or mere echoes of a familiar strain. 

With Savarin gastronomy became an all-absorbing 
enthusiasm — a prolific vein that hitherto had been im- 
perfectly explored. It was, above all, an art, a potent 
factor in the pleasures of life, a valuable auxiliary 
to health, a means of advancing the amenities of ex- 
177 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

istence — a finesse, in sliort, of whicli he was to he the 
analyst and interpreter, tlie La Bruyere and the 
Sainte-Beuve. Like the sprightly Ninon in her let- 
ters, who at eighty was still ahle to captivate and 
charm, Savarin might have written of the medita- 
tions of his advanced age: "We are not indulging in 
what is termed fine conversation — we are philoso- 
phising." 

The reader w^ho will look to the "Physiology." for 
practical directions on cookery will he disappointed. 
In place of a cook-book he will find a reflective disser- 
tation on tlie aesthetics of the table, replete with wit, 
hmnour, and anecdote; a treatise dealing more with 
physical functions than the fashioning of sauces, and 
with the fork and w4ne-glass rather than with the 
chef and casserole. 

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, or Brillat de Savarin, 
was born at Belley, in the department of the Ain, in 
1755, the "Physiologic du Gout" appearing in 1825, 
a year previous to his death. The volume was the out- 
come of a lifetime of preparation for which his tem- 
perament and circumstances afforded abundant op- 
portunity. Like La Reyniere, he w^as a lawyer by 
profession, and, like him, he became an exile for a 
considerable period. He had received a careful edu- 
cation, the early part of his life being devoted to his 
legal practice, medical and chemical studies, and epi- 
curean pleasures. He was fond of music, the fair 
sex, and good dinners, this triple penchant revealing 
itself frequently in his anecdotes. When thirty-eight 
years of age, lie was elected mayor of Belley. Later, 
after sojourning in Switzerland, he visited the United 

178 



THE SCHOOT. OF SAVARIX 

States for a period of three years to introduce to New 
England the fondue — a dish which he proclaims of 
Swiss origin and from which the "Welsh rarebit" 
was derived. On his return to France he became a 
commissary of the government in the department of 
Seine-et-Oise, afterwards being appointed a coun- 
sellor in the Court of Cassation, a position he occu- 
pied during the remainder of his life. While engaged 
in this tribunal, his volume was leisurely composed. 

Lyons, celebrated for its cervelas, chestnuts, beer, 
and vin de Rivage, was but a short distance from 
his native place, and it may be assmned that when 
tired of home fare he availed himself occasionally of 
its numerous markets and restaurants, and enjoyed 
the hospitality of its bons-vivants. Game was abun- 
dant in the Ain, a region he describes as "a charming 
country of high mountains, hills, rivers, limpid brooks, 
and cascades." Nor were trout wanting in its crystal 
waters — a delicacy that often graced his table and fur- 
nished him with one of his most picturesque recij^es. 
He is speaking in his oracular way to his chef, in the 
admirable INIeditation entitled "The Theory of Fry- 
ing," a chapter that every cook should learn by heart: 

"I say nothing about choosing oils or fats, because the 
various cook-books which I have placed in your library give 
sufficient information on that hand. Do not forget, how- 
ever, when you have any of those trout weighing scarcely more 
than a quarter of a pound and caught in running brooks that 
murmur far from the capital — do not forget, I say, to fry 
them in the very finest olive oil you have. This simple dish, 
])roperly sprinkled and served up with slices of lemon, is 
worthy of being offered to a cardinal." 

179 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

One can almost hear the music of the stream as it 
purls over its pebbly bed and whispers to the over- 
hanging alders, while one marks the leap and glitter 
of trout and their prompt transition to the basket and 
the frying-pan. And lest these lovely denizens of 
spring-fed waters be overlooked in a subsequent chap- 
ter, it will be well to attach at once the instructions 
as to their mode of cooking of another author, in 
whom one is sure of an admirable guide, philosopher, 
and friend: 

"They are so perfumed, these little trout," says Baron 
Brisse, "that it is sufficient to cook them in a hght court- 
bouillon, and as soon as they are perfectly cold to eat them 
au naturel; all seasonings detracting from their savour. 
Truites au court-bouillon. Clean the trout by the gills, dry 
them carefully, tie up the heads, then cook them in a court- 
bouillon made of white wine seasoned with slices of onion, 
sprigs of parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, and salt, adding a little 
bouillon; let them simmer until completely done, dry them, 
and serve on a napkin garnished with parsley. If a sauce is 
desired, mix a part of the court-bouilloji with butter and flour, 
reduce one half on a lively fire, and serve. Truites a la Vos- 
gienne. After dressing the trout, sprinkle with salt and let 
them stand an hour. Then place them on the fire with the 
necessary quantity of white wine for their cooking, seasoning 
with onions, cloves, a bouquet-garni, a clove of garlic, salt, 
pepper, and butter mixed with flour ; cook on a lively fire, lay 
out the trout on a platter, and mask them with the sauce 
passed through a sieve." 

These modes of preparation, all of which are deli- 
cious, will not interfere with preparing them a la ma- 
telote and au gratin, or the more common manner of 

180 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

frying them in butter, with a thin slice or two of salt 
pork and a dash of lemon and sprinkling of chopped 
parsley added to the sauce of the cooking. The best 
of sauces, however, is the sauce of catching the trout 
one's self — to hear with one's own ear the cool lapse 
of streams "that murmur far from the capital," and 
view the rubies at first hand as they flash from the 
Salmons roseate sides. 

If, as was stated by the INIarquis de Cussy, Brillat- 
Savarin "ate copiously and ill, chose little, talked 
dully, and was preoccupied at the end of a repast," 
no fault can be found by the most captious critic with 
the conversationalist and host of the "Physiology." 
There is not a dull line within its covers, or a page un- 
marked by brilliancy. Beginning with a dissertation 
on the senses in general, he proceeds with a most re- 
condite analysis of the senses relating to taste. He 
explains that the empire of taste has its blind and its 
deaf, that the sensation of taste resides principally in 
the papillae of the tongue, though every tongue has 
not the same number of papillae, but that in some there 
are thrice as many as in -others. Hence, with two per- 
sons sitting at the same table, one may be deliciously 
affected by the viands and wines, whereas the other 
will seem to partake of them with restraint. Taste, 
he maintains, is a sense that, all things considered, 
procures us the greatest number of enjoyments: 

"1st. Because the pleasure of eating is the onl}'' one that, 
taken in moderation, is never followed by fatigue; 

"2d. Because it belongs to all times, to all ages, and to all 
conditions ; 

181 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"3d. Because it occurs necessarily at least once a day, and 
may be repeated without inconvenience two or three times 
in this space of time ; 

"4th. Because it may be combined with all our other plea- 
sures and even console us for their absence ; 

"5th. Because the impressions it receives are at the same 
time more durable and more dependent on our will ; 

"6th. Because in eating we receive a certain indefinable and 
special comfort which arises from the intuitive consciousness 
that we repair our losses and prolong our existence by the 
food we eat. 

"Lastly," he asserts, "the tongue of man, by the delicacy 
of its texture and the various membranes which environ it, 
sufficiently indicates the sublimity of the operations for which 
it is destined. It contains at least three movements unknown 
to animals, which he terms spication, rotation, and verrition. 
The first is when the tongue in a conical shape comes from 
between the lips that compress it ; the second, when the tongue 
moves circularly in the space comprised between the interior 
of the cheeks and the palate ; the third, when the tongue, curv- 
ing upwards or downwards, gathers anything remaining in 
the semicircular canal formed by the lips and the gums." 

Like the seasoned and thoroughbred hunter who is 
sure of his sinew and his stride, and before whom the 
stile, the ditch, and the five-barred gate present no ob- 
stacles, so may Savarin be freely allowed his head and 
be followed over the fragrant fields of taste, with no 
fear that anything appertaining to its province will 
prove impossible or difficult for him to sin*mount. 

The influence of smell on taste is closely analysed: 

"For myself, I am not only persuaded that without the par- 
ticipation of smell there is no perfect taste, but I am even 

182 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIX 

tempted to believe that smell and taste form only one sense, 
of which the mouth is the laboratory and the nose the chim- 
ney ; or, to speak more exactly, that the tongue tastes tactile 
substances, and the nose gases. This theory may be vigor- 
ously defended. 

"All sapid bodies must be necessarily odorous, which places 
them as well in the empire of smell as in the empire of taste. 

"We eat nothing without smelling it with more or less con- 
sciousness ; and for unknown foods the nose acts always as a 
sentinel, and cries, 'Who goes there .'^' 

"When smell is interrupted, taste is paralysed. This is 
proved by three experiments, which any one may make suc- 
cessfully : First, when the nasal mucous membrane is irritated 
by a violent cold in the head, taste is entirely obliterated. In 
anything we swallow there is no taste. The tongue, neverthe- 
less, remains in its normal state. Second, if we eat whilst 
holding tight our nose, we are much astonished to experience 
the sensation of taste only in an obscure and imperfect man- 
ner. By this means the most nauseous medicines are swal- 
lowed almost without tasting them. Third, we see the same 
effect if, at the moment we have swallowed, instead of bring- 
ing back the tongue to its usual place, we keep it close to the 
palate. In this case the circulation of the air is intercepted, 
the organs of smell are not affected, and taste does not occur. 
These different effects depend upon the same cause, the lack 
of cooperation of the smell, which makes the sapid body to be 
appreciated only on account of its juice, and not for the 
odoriferous gas that emanates from it. 

"These principles being thus laid down, I regard it as cer- 
tain that taste gives rise to sensations of three different orders, 
namely: direct sensation, complete sensation, and reflex sen- 
sation. Direct sensation is that first perception which arises 
from the innnediate operation of the organs of the mouth, 
whilst the appreciable body is yet found on the point of the 

183 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tongue. Complete sensation is that which is composed of this 
first perception and of the impression which originates when 
the food abandons this first position, passes into the back part 
of the mouth, and impresses the wliole organ with both taste 
and perfume. Reflex sensation is the judgment of the mind 
upon tlie impressions transmitted to it by the organ." 

To no other writer may one turn so satisfactorily 
for an interpretation of the word "gastronomy," a 
word which belongs by right to him. Previous to 
his exegesis, gluttony and gastronomy had been more 
or less confounded. It is true that the poem of Ber- 
choux is entitled "La Gastronomic," but the term was 
not defined by the poet, nor do the piquant pages of 
the "Almanach" refer to the art "of having excellent 
cheer" under that term. The true epicure, as distin- 
guished from the gross eater, had long stood in need 
of the definition and distinction. "The gastronomer 
is nearly always a sage," it has been observed — a state- 
ment borne out by the "Dictionnaire de la Conversa- 
tion," which characterises this science as "the art of 
living, of eating worthily, properly, as a man of taste, 
character, and judgment." It will prove of inter- 
est, therefore, to those who are unfamiliar with the 
"Physiology" to refer to the third INIeditation, and 
note the French savant's elaborate analysis of the 
word : 

"Gastronomy is tlie rational knowledge of all that relates 
to man as an cater. 

"Its object is to watch over the preservation of men by 
jneans of the best nourisliment possible. 

"It arrives thereat by laying down certain principles to 

184 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

direct those who look for, furnish, or prepare the things which 
may be converted into food. 

"Thus it is gastronomy that sets in motion farmers, vine- 
growers, fishers, hunters, and the numerous family of cooks, 
whatever may be their title, or under whatever qualification 
they may disguise their occupation of preparing food. 

"Gastronomy is connected — 

"With natural history, by its classification of alimentary 
substances. 

"With physics, by the investigation of their composition 
and their qualities ; 

"With chemistry, by the different analyses and decomposi- 
tions which it makes them undergo ; 

"With cookery, by the art of preparing food and ren- 
dering it more agreeable to taste ; 

"With commerce, by the search for means to buy at the 
cheapest rate possible what is consumed by it, and selling 
to the greatest advantage that which is presented for sale ; 

"Lastly, with political economy, by the resources which 
it furnishes to the authorities for taxation, and by the means 
of exchange it establishes among nations. 

"Some knowledge of gastronomy is needed by all men, since 
it tends to increase the allotted sum of human happiness ; and 
the more easy a man's circumstances, the more advantages 
does he gain from such knowledge." 

Summing up, he pronounces its material subject to 
be everything tliat may be eaten; its direct object, the 
preservation of individuals; and its means of execu- 
tion, cultivation which produces, commerce which ex- 
clianges, industry which prepares, and experience 
which invents the means of turning everything to the 
best account. 

It will thus be perceived how little understood, even 
185 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

at this advanced age, is the term in question, and how 
few, comparatively, there are who comprehend the 
true significance of tlie pleasures of the table — plea- 
sures where grossness does not enter, but wliere taste, 
refinement, the amenities, and hygiene assert their 
sway. Life is short at its longest; but who shall har- 
vest its sweetnesses so fully as the accomplished gas- 
tronomer! The rustling forest glades, radiant in the 
pomp of October, may be summoned by the appear- 
ance of a finely larded grouse; the tinkle of liberated 
brooks be heard with the advent of the first April 
trout; the flute of the whitethroat be recalled by the 
floral tributes to the table; and all that is sunshine in 
nature be distilled when the cork sets free a noble 
vintage of the JSIedoc or the INIarne. 

If the term "gastronomy" was imperfectly under- 
stood until the definition in the "Pliysiology," as much 
may be said of the word gourmandise, which oftener 
served as a designation of gluttony than as a synonym 
of refined epicureanism. 

Gourmandise , Savarin defines as "an impassioned, 
rational, and habitual preference for all objects which 
flatter the sense of taste. It is opj^osed to excess in 
eating and drinking. Physically, it is an indication 
of the wholesome state of the organs on which nutri- 
tion depends, and>, morally, it marks implicit resigna- 
tion to the commands of the Creator, who, in ordering 
man to eat that he may live, invites him to do so by 
appetite, encourages him by flavour, and rewards him 
by pleasure. It is, moreover, most favourable to 
beauty, im])arting more ])rilliancy to the eye, fresh- 
ness to the skin, more support to the muscles; and as 

186 




POUR VOIR DE BONS REFRAINS £CLORE, BUVONS ENCORE!' 
Frontispiece of " Le Caveau Moderue " (1807) 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

it is certain in physiology that it is the depression of 
muscles that causes wrinkles, those formidable ene- 
mies of beauty, it is equally true that, all things being 
equal, those who know how to eat are comparatively 
ten years younger than those ignorant of that science." 
It was also left for him to discover that gourmandise, 
when it is shared, has a marked influence on the hap- 
piness which may be found in the conjugal state. 

Let us follow the accomplished chancellor farther 
in his physiological studies, and refer to the thir- 
teenth INIeditation, which treats of "gastronomic 
tests." In a previous chapter a famous bill of fare 
of the renowned Rocher de Cancale has been pre- 
sented, which it may be well to compare with what ap- 
proaches nearest to a menu or series of menus in the 
"Physiology." It will then be for the reader to decide 
whetlier he would rather have assisted at the feast of 
the Rocher alluded to, or at that prescribed by Sa- 
varin for an income of thirty thousand francs in the 
early part of the centurj\ In both instances the list of 
accompanying wines is wanting, and therefore the 
menus are necessarily incomplete as a dinner chron- 
icle of the times. Happily, the long and heavy din- 
ners of former days have given place to repasts of a 
far more simple nature, as the heavy wines of Oporto 
and the South and the liighly saccharine products of 
the vine have been replaced by lighter and more whole- 
some kinds. It is possible now to dine well and gen- 
erously and escape a headache or an indigestion the 
following morning. 

By "gastronomic tests," which the author claims as 
a personal discovery that will honour the nineteenth 
187 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

century, he understands dishes of acknowledged fla- 
vour, of an excellence so undoubted that the mere sight 
of them ought to move, in a well-organised man, every 
facult}' of taste; so that all those whose faces under 
such circumstances neither flash with desire nor beam 
with ecstasy may justly be noted as unworthy of the 
honours of the banquet and its attending pleasures. 
A test destined for a man of limited means, he ex- 
plains, would have little reference to a head clerk, 
and would scarcely be perceived when a select few 
dine together at a capitalist's or a diplomatist's. 
Should such dishes as a truflled tin-key seem out of 
keeping for an income of fifteen thousand francs, and 
the list of the "third series" appear too elaborate for 
an income of double that sum, due consideration 
should be taken of the value of the franc at the period 
to which the author refers. It is also to be presumed 
that such a bill of fare was not often served by any 
one person, and was therefore more highly prized and 
more easily digested. 

Gastronomic Tests. 
First Series. 

For a Presumed Income of 5000 Francs a Year (Medi- 
ocrity). 

A large fillet of veal, well larded with bacon, done in its own 
gravy. 

A country-fed turkey stuffed with Lyons chestnuts. 

Fattened pigeons larded and cooked to a turn. 

Eggs dressed a la nc'ige. 

188 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

A dish of Sauerkraut bristling with sausages and crowned 
with Strassburg bacon. 

Remarks. — "Bless me ! that looks all right i Come on ! let 
us do honour to it !" 

Second Series. 

For a Presumed Income of 15,000 Francs (Comfort). 

A fillet of beef underdone in the middle, larded and done in 
its own gravy. 

A haunch of venison, accompanied by a gherkin sauce. 

A boiled turbot. 

A leg of mutton prcsalc, done a la proven^ale. 

A truffled turkey. 

Early green peas. 

Remarks. — "Ah, my dear friend, what a delightful sight! 
This is truly a wedding-feast." 

Third Series. 

For a Presumed Income of 30,000 Francs or more 
(Riches). 

A fowl of about seven pounds stuffed with truffles till it 
becomes almost round. 

An enormous Strassburg pate de foie gras, in the shape 
of a bastion. 

A large Rhein carp a la Chambord, richly dressed and 
decorated. 

Truffled quails, with marrow, spread on buttered toast au 
basilic. 

A river pike larded, stuffed, and smothered in a cream of 
crayfish secundum artem. 

A pheasant done to perfection, with his tail-feathers stuck 
in, lying on toast a la Sainte- Alliance. 

189 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

A hundred early asparagus, each half an inch thick, with 
sauce a Vosinazome. 

Two dozen ortolans a la proven^ale, as described in some of 
the cookery-books already mentioned. 

A pyramid of vanilla and rose meringues — a test some- 
times useless unless in the case of ladies and abbes. 

Remarks. — "Ah, my dear sir (or my lord), what a genius 
that cook of 3'ours is ! It is only at your table that one meets 
such dishes." 

In order that any test should produce its full effect, 
the author advises that it be served plenteousl\% the 
rarest of dishes losing its influence when not in abun- 
dant proportion, as the first impression it produces 
on the guests is naturally checked by the fear of being 
stingily served, or, in certain cases, of being obliged 
to refuse out of politeness — a conclusion one may see 
verified frequently at a European table-d'hote when 
the parsimonious though perhaps extortionate land- 
lord deals out the roast or the fish through the inter- 
medium of the maligned gar^on or Kellner. There 
are certain dishes, nevertheless, whose zest consists in 
their very daintiness and lack of exuberance, such as 
numerous entrees, in the savouring of which even the 
forks and knives should be small and the proportions 
of the dish be restricted rather than augmented. But 
the rules in the "Physiology" as to a perfect dinner 
still hold good in the main, and will well bear reit- 
eration : 

"Let the number of guests not exceed twelve, so that the 
conversation may be constantly general. 

"Let them be so chosen that their occupations are various, 

190 



THE SCHOOJ. OF SAVARIN 

their tastes unalogous, and with such points of contact that 
one need not have recourse to that odious formahty of in- 
troductions, 

"Let the dining-room be brilliantly lighted, tlie cloth as 
white as snow, and the temperature of the room from sixty to 
sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. 

"Let the men be witty and not pedantic, and the women 
amiable without being too coquettish. 

"Let the dishes be exquisitely choice, but small in number, 
and the wines of the first quality, each in its degree. 

"Let the dishes be served from the more substantial to the 
lighter; and from the simpler wines to those of finer bouquet. 

"Let the eating proceed slowly, the dinner being the last 
business of the day, and let the guests look upon themselves 
as travellers who journey together towards a common object. 

"Let the coffee be hot and the liqueurs be specially chosen. 

"Let the drawing-room to which the guests retire be large 
enough to permit those who cannot do without it to have a 
game of cards, while leaving, however, ample scope for post- 
prandial conversation. 

"Let the guests be detained by social attraction, and ani- 
mated with expectation that before the evening is over there 
will be some further enjoyment. 

"Let the tea not be too strong, the toast artistically buttered, 
and the punch made with care. 

"Let the signal for departure not be given before eleven 
o'clock. 

"Let every one be in bed at midnight. 

"If any man has ever been a guest at a repast uniting all 
these conditions, he can boast of having been present at his 
own apotheosis; and he will have enjoyed it the less in pro- 
portion as these conditions have been forgotten or neglected." 

Exception perliaps may be taken to the tempera- 
ture of the dining-room as given m the above injunc- 
191 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tions, 70° to 73° Fahreiilieit being a more comfortable 
atmospheric medimii of dining where it is possible. 
The tea and toast and the punch may also be dis- 
pensed with to advantage, and in their stead a liqueur 
glass of Curafoa sec be prescribed, one of the best, as 
it is one of the most agreeable, digestives after a sub- 
stantial repast. 

Game has been pronounced a delight of the table 
by Savarin — a food healthful, warming, savoury, and 
easy of digestion to young stomachs. Of small game 
or birds, he accords the highest place to the fig-pecker, 
saying that if this bird were as large as a pheasant it 
would be worth an acre of land. Savarin was a true 
sportsman, who knew his game and its proper prep- 
aration, and among the breeziest of his chapters are 
those relating to field sports, wherein due regard is 
paid to the luncheon. A portion of the fifteenth 
INIeditation will be sufficient to show the counsellor 
in his hunting costume at the halt of a shooting party ; 
he is in his happiest vein, his theme being "The La- 
dies." The morning has been fine, and the birds abun- 
dant. Appetite is not wanting, and at a prearranged 
hour a party of ladies arrive, laden with the treasures 
of Perigord, the triumphs of Strassburg, and the bub- 
bles of Epernay, to assist in the repast. It is at the 
close of this that the chancellor becomes most eloquent 
and pronounces one of his most characteristic mono- 
logues : 

"I have been out shooting in the centre of France and the 
most remote provinces, and seen arrive at the halt cliarming 
women, girls redolent with freshness, some arriving in cabri- 

192 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

olcts, others in simple country carts. I have seen them the first 
in laughing at the inconveniences of their conveyance. I have 
seen them display upon the turf the turkey in clear jelly, the 
household pic, the salad all ready for mixing. I have seen 
them with light foot dancing round the hivouac fire liglited 
on this occasion. I have taken part in the games and merri- 
ment that accompany such a gipsy feast, and I feel thor- 
oughly convinced that, with less luxury, there is quite as much 
that is charming, gay, and delightful. 

"Why when they take their leave should not some kisses be 
interchanged with the best sportsman, who is in his glory ; 
with the worst shot because he is most unlucky ; with the others 
so as not to make them jealous.'^ All are about to separate, 
custom has authorized it ; and it is permissible, and even com- 
manded, to take advantage of such an opportunity. 

"Fellow-sportsmen, ye who are prudent and look after solid 
things, fire straight, and bag as much as you can before the 
ladies arrive, for experience teaches us that after their de- 
parture sportsmen seem very rarely in luck. . . ." ^ 

As the lordly Asian pheasant is thriving and mul- 
tiplying with us, it will be pertinent to present Sa- 
varin's famous and somewhat inaccessible formula of 
preparing him a la Sainte- Alliance for all such as 
may wish to try so elaborate a j^kit de lidve, it being 
well understood that the pheasant, above all birds, re- 
quires to be very fully matured by hanging: 

"The bird is first to be carefully larded with the best and 
firmest lard. Then bone two woodcocks, put their flesh aside, 
and keep the livers and trails of the two birds separate. Take 

1 The reader who is interested in entitled " Des Parties de Campag:ne 

pastoral luncheons and all their possi- Goiirinandes " in the fourth volume 

bilities should compare the "Halts of the "Almanaeh des Gourmands." 
of a Shooting Party" with the chapter 

193 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

this meat and inince it, add some beef marrow, steamed, a little 
scraped bacon, pepper, salt, herbs, and enough good truffles 
to stuff' the inner cavity of the pheasant. Be careful not to 
let the stuffing spread to the outside, which is sometimes a little 
difficult when the bird is rather high. Nevertheless, it can be 
done in various ways, and amongst others by fastening a crust 
of bread with a piece of thread on the stomach, which })re- 
vcnts its bursting. Cut a slice of bread longer and wider by 
two inches than the whole pheasant is ; then take the livers and 
trails of the woodcocks, and pound them with two large truf- 
fles, one anchovy, a little scraped bacon, and a goodly lump of 
the best fresh butter. Spread this paste on the slice of bread, 
and put it under the pheasant stuffed as above, so that it may 
receive all the gravy dripping from it while roasting. When 
the pheasant is cooked, serve it up lying gracefulh' on its 
toast, put some bitter oranges round it, and await the result 
without any uneasiness. This high-flavoured dish ought to be 
washed down, in preference, with some of the best wine of 
Upper Burgundy. Treated according to the preceding pre- 
scription, the pheasant, already distinguislied itself, is per- 
meated from its outside with the savoury fat of the bacon 
which is browned and in its inside it is impregnated with the 
odoriferous gases from the woodcocks and the truffles. The 
toast, already so richly prepared, receives again the gravies 
of the triple combination which flow from the bird while 
roasting." 

Has gastronomy progressed since the time of Bril- 
lat-Savarin? Replying to this question, Charles 
Monselet, writing in 1879, states that he "looks in 
vain for the tables that are praised or the hosts that 
are renowned. Where are the great cooks? What 
names have we now to oppose to those of Careme and 
Robert? Shall I speak of official cookery, of minis- 

194 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

terial dinners? These are not the dinners to which 
people go to eat. Tliere especially the cook is more 
proud of a Chinese kiosk on a rock in coloured and 
spun sugar, which no person dare touch, than of a 
carp a la Cliamhord treated in a masterly way. Since 
the days of Cambaceres official cookery has ceased to 
exist." The similarity of dinners complained of by 
Walker and Thackeray dui'ing a previous era he re- 
fers to as existing in Paris: "That which you eat yes- 
terday in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, you will eat 
to-morrow in the Faubourg Saint-Honore. At the 
end of the week you recognise that you have merely 
changed your knife and fork. This poverty of im- 
agination, this absence of research are unworthy of a 
country such as ours." 

Apart from his neglect to mention the labours of 
his distinguished gastronomical predecessor, Savarin 
is also open to censure for failing to thank the Ital- 
ians for their admirable lessons in the science of cook- 
ery, including that of frying in oil, which he particu- 
larly specifies as so desirable with trout "caught in 
running brooks that murmur far from the capital." 
To this day the Italian remains a great confec- 
tioner and pastry-cook, while an Italian maestro is 
a delight of the haute cuisine, his methods possess- 
ing much originality and holding nothing in com- 
mon Avith the greasy dishes and their superabun- 
dance of garlic which one meets in the average inn 
and in many of the restaurants of the land beyond 
the Alps. 

Upon one subject, it is to be regretted, we have not 
been advised by the philosophic and analytic mayor 
195 



TPIK PLEASURES OF THE TABEE 

of Belley, who is silent concerning the physiology of 
the cocktail, or any form of beverage composed of 
spirits, taken before dinner. During La Reyniere's 
era, on the occasion of a grand dinner the rule was 
the so-called coup d'avant, the coup du milieu, and the 
coup d'apres — the three spirituous graces, as it were, 
of an elaborate repast. Here was a lost opportunity 
for the "Physiology," which might have formulated 
a hygienic chapter apart from the INIeditations on 
thirst and drinks. Unquestionably, there are rea- 
sons for and against the use of a liquid stimulant be- 
fore the principal meal. The true gastronomer, and 
all those who are careful of their health, without which 
the best dinner may not be enjoyed, will at any rate 
eschew all strong alcoholic beverages until evening. 
The question of a stimulant before the dinner will 
then be one for individual consideration. Its daily 
use may scarcely be commended, particularly if it be 
followed by wine: one who is in possession of good 
health should not require a fictitious goad to appetite. 
Where a carefully planned dinner is in question, how- 
ever, the dry cocktail — one, and one only — taken 
ten minutes before the moment of sitting down at 
table, is undoubtedly a stimulus to appetite and pro- 
vocative of good-fellowship. It pitches the company 
in a pleasant key at the onset, and imparts a zest and 
an allcgresse to the first part of the repast that were 
otherwise lacking. Then, if the sparkling wine be not 
postponed too long, and the dinner itself be merito- 
rious, the host and hostess ma}^ rest secure, without a 
shadow of solicitude regarding its success. Impelled 
by its own geniality, the company will take abundant 
care of itself, and the stream of conversation and rip- 

196 



THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN 

pie of anecdote flow freely along, unimpeded by the 
boulders of formality or the aridity engendered by a 
dearth of joyous fluids. 

Turning the leaves of the "Physiology," the reader 
will be impressed with the fecundity of an author who 
treats with equal fluency of foods and drinks, appetite 
and digestion, sport and old age, women and abbes, 
and all that appertains to the physiology of gastron- 
omy. His portrait of a pretty gourmande under arms 
is a genre painting worthy of Gerard Douw or Van 
JNIieris, while his Meditation on the end of the world 
might have been composed by a doctor of the Sor- 
bonne. The chapter on digestion is full of practical 
advice, and from this his disquisitions on repose, on 
dreams, and on the influence of diet are a natural suc- 
cession. In the chapter on dreams we are told that 
all foods which are slightly exciting cause people to 
dream— such as brown meat, pigeons, ducks, game, 
and, above all, hare — the same property being also 
recognised in asparagus, celery, truffles, sweetmeats, 
and particularly vanilla. Equally suggestive are the 
essays on corpulence, leanness, and fasting, and the 
many racy anecdotes of the "Varietes," while his 
aphorisms must always occupy a place in epicurean 
literature. 

Did Savarin feel a premonition of immediate death 
when he penned the verses which he entitled "The 
Agony — A Physiological Romance," and which con- 
clude the work that has rendered his name a synonym 
for all that appertains to the table and its pleasures? 

"I foci tliroiigli Jill my senses life's Scad end, 
INIy dim c^^e sees the last few grains of sand 

197 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Falling, Louisa weeps, my tender friend. 

And places on my breast her trembling hand. 

The band of morning-callers troops apace, 
Not to return, they bid a last good-bye, 

The doctor leaves, the pastor takes his place, 
For I must die ! 

"I fain would pra}^ my memory is gone ; 

I fain would speak, my lips can frame no sound ; 
I hear, though all is still, a singing tone. 

And a dull shadow seems to hover round ; 
All is now cold and dark, my panting breast 
Exhausts itself in heaving one poor sigh. 
To wander round my lips in frozen rest. 
For I must die!" 

Numerous translations of the "Physiology" have 
appeared in various languages. Of these the most 
familiar one in English, entitled "Gastronomy as a 
Fine Art," is well interpreted as far as it goes. But 
many piquant passages are condensed, and portions 
of chapters and at least one half of the "Varietes" 
are omitted altogether. The most complete rendition 
is the large octavo volume, with its rather unsatisfac- 
tory illustrations by Lalauze, termed "A Handbook 
of Gastronomy," wherein the English reader may 
commune with the French writer almost at first hand, 
and not be obliged to forgo "The Pidlet of Bresse," 
"The Dish of Eels," "A Day with the Bernardines," 
and "The Pheasant" — a la Sainte- Alliance. 



198 




ALEXANDRE DUMAS 
From the etching by Rajon 




FROM CAREINIE TO DUMAS 



"Les ecrivains-cuisiniers sont aiissi necessaires que les autres litterateurs; il vous faut 
coiinaitre la theorie du plus aiicien des arts." — Charles Gerard. 



AMONG the great professional cooks who were 
Xv not alone notable practitioners, but who have 
written understandingly on the art, the names of 
Beauvilliers, Careme, Ude, Francatelli, Soyer, Ur- 
bain-Dubois, and Gouffe are preeminent. We have 
already considered the important role enacted by 
Beauvilliers as chef, restaurateur, and author. The 
luictuous name of Careme, however, is more often 
uttered with reverence, and even yet evokes visions 
of all that is most delectable in sauces and entremets 
de douceur. 

Indeed, were one to wish that he might turn an 
Aladdin's ring and summon some genius of the range 
199 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

who would be most gladly welcomed, surely on Ca- 
reme the choice would fall. As for the dinner one 
might wish to command, what better than the feast at 
the Chateau de Boulogne, so eloquently described by 
Lady ^Morgan, when he presided at the Baron Roth- 
schild's villa — that dinner of an estival eventide when 
the landscape lay sweltering in the heat, without, but 
where all was deliciously cool within the vast pavilion 
which stood apart from the mansion in the midst of 
orange trees: "where distillations of the most delicate 
viands, extracted in silver dews, with chemical pre- 
cision, 

" 'On tepid clouds of rising steam,' 

formed the base of all; where every meat presented 
its own natural aroma, and every vegetable its own 
shade of verdure; where the mayonnaise was fried in 
ice (like Ninon's description of Sevigne's heart) ; and 
the tempered chill of the plomhiere anticipated the 
stronger shock, and broke it, of the exquisite ava- 
lanche, which, with the hue and odour of fresh gath- 
ered nectarines, satisfied every sense and dissipated 
every coarser flavour." 

The age of Careme was the era of quintessences — 
of the cuisine classique, when chemistry contributed 
new resources, and fish, meats, and fowls were dis- 
tilled, in order to add a heightened flavour to the 
sauces and viands that their etherealised essences were 
to accentuate. One thinks of Lucullus and Apicius, 
and of the "exceeding odoriferous and aromaticall 
vapour" of the ovens of the artist mentioned by ]Mon- 
taigne. 

200 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

That success in any walk of life is the result not 
only of natural aptitude but of persevering applica- 
tion, Careme's history affords abundant proof, if such 
were required. Left to shift for himself when but 
seven years old, at fifteen he had already served his 
apprenticeship as a cook, to advance with rapid strides 
in his chosen profession. Constant sobriety, which 
called for much self-sacrifice on his part, and an iron 
constitution enabled him to carry out the most arduous 
labours. "INIy ambition was serious," he states in his 
memoirs, "and at an early age I became desirous of 
elevating my profession to an art." 

The better to perfect himself in its various branches, 
he studied for ten years under the most distinguished 
masters, including Robert and Laguipiere. For 
years, also, he was a daily student at the Imperial 
Library and Cabinet of Engravings, perfecting him- 
self in drawing and in the literature of his profession. 
He likewise made an exhaustive study of old Roman 
cookery, only to arrive at the conclusion that it was 
intrinsically bad and abominably heavy ( foncierement 
mauvaise et atrocemcut lourde) — an opinion con- 
firmed by the INIarquis de Cussy, who declared that 
he would ratlier dine at a Parisian restaurant for 
twenty francs than with Lucullus in the saloon of 
Apollo. It was Careme's habit to take notes nightly 
of his progress and the modifications he had made in 
his work during the day, tliereby fixing those ideas 
and combinations that otherwise would have escaped 
his memory. 

Amid the luxurious kitchens of the Empire he 
reigned supreme — the king of pastry-cooks and mar- 
201 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

vellous in his sauces, galantines, and inventions. 
Crowned heads soon became his suitors, and princes 
implored his services. It was Talleyrand, one of the 
wittiest and most epicurean princes of the Empire, 
who inspired him perhaps with his greatest enthusi- 
asm, and of whom he says, "^I. de Talleyrand under- 
stands the genius of a cook, he respects it, he is the 
most competent judge of delicate progress, and his 
ejcpcnditures are tcise and ^rcat at the same time.'' 
Of Laguipicre, the chief cook of JNIurat, to whose 
talents he ascribes the elegance and eclat of the culi- 
nary art of the nineteenth century, he is unstinted in 
his jiraises. Of Beauvilliers he has little to say, and 
although a volume appeared bearing the combined 
names of Beauvilliers and Careme, one fancies that 
the proverbial jealousy of cooks was not wanting in 
their case. 

Careme has modified tlie adage on se fait cuisinier, 
mais on est ne rotisseur, claiming that to become a 
perfect cook one must first be a distinguished pastry- 
maker, and citing as instances his favourite teacher 
Laguipiere, with Robert, Lasne, Riquette, and nu- 
merous other celebrities. He speaks of the "light- 
ness," the "grace," and the "colour" of pastry; of the 
"order, perspicuity, and intelligence" required in its 
preparation. "It is easier," he says, "to cook pastry 
than to make it. . . . There are ovens and ovens 
(fours). There is the four ehaud; there is the four 
gai; there is the four ehaleur modcrce. The best oven 
is that which is often heated and which retains its heat. 
If there is too much' loft and too little floor, or much 
floor and little loft, only meagre results may be ex- 

202 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

pected." When one orders a vol-au-vent a la finan- 
cier e or a pcite d'ecrevisses (that triumph of Or- 
leans) at a restaurant, therefore, it will he perceived 
it becomes a question of the oven as well as the capa- 
city of the artist directing it that counts in the success, 
and which the conscientious diner should take into con- 
sideration ere finding fault with the addition. 

Again, the analogy between cookery and painting- 
becomes apparent. Thus the conditions noted by 
Careme find a parallel in the artist endow^ed with a 
vivid imagination, but possessed of only mediocre 
technique; or a painter whose feeling may be admir- 
able, but whose execution is deficient. The four gai — 
how it suggests a landscape of Cuyp steeped in the 
splendours of the setting sun — to say nothing of a 
nicely gilded omelette or a souffle of apricots! To 
glaccr a la fiainme, as Careme expressed it, calls for 
a four d'enfer, and one has in mind a creme gelee 
d' Alaska, with the fire managed by a INIephistopheles. 

I^et the cook and the painter continue to la}^ on the 
colours gaily — the one with his braise and the other 
with his brush. Art is art always, and finds its sure 
reward in whatever sphere talent, conscientiousness, 
and application are united. 

In the autobiographic preface of the "Cuisinier 
Parisien" an instance is cited of the care and variety 
M'hich the author claims every industrious cook should 
bring to bear in his work, in order to excite the appe- 
tite of the amphitryon : 

"One day the Prince-Rcgcnt of Englanrl, wlioni I served, 
said to me, 'Careme, you will make me die of indigestion : T 

203 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

am fond of everything you give me, and you tempt me too 
much.' 'Monseigneur,' I replied, 'my principal office is to 
challenge your appetite by the variety of my service ; but it 
is not my affair to regulate it.' The prince smiled, saying 
that I was right, and I continued to supply him with the best." 

"The charcoal shortens our lives," said Careme; 
"but what matter? — we lose in years and gain in 
glory." A born epicure, he never risked his health 
by over-indulgence of his epicurean taste. "I have 
been prudent," he states, "not by inclination, but 
through a profound sense of my duty." To his culi- 
nary accomplishments he joined those of a master di- 
rector and maitre-d'hotel. Witness his remarks con- 
cerning the functions of a chief steward : 

"The maitre-dliotcl cuisinier should possess that unification 
of qualities which is seldom bestowed, even in an isolated form. 
He will be a cook, above all — able, alert, productive; he will 
be cut out for active connnand and be animated by an invin- 
cible ardour for work ; he will be a man of parts, an enthu- 
siast, vigilant even to minuteness. He will sec all, and know 
all. The maitre-d'hotel is never ill. He presides over every- 
thing, his impetus dominates all ; he alone has the right to 
raise his voice, and all must obey. He must be sufficiently 
learned to write out, when occasion calls for it, without the aid 
of books, the principal part of his bills of fare. These are 
his book of resources, the journal of his fatigues and his vic- 
tories. Alas ! that which he may not preserve in these copies 
are the spontaneous fire and ready tact he has displayed in 
connection with his ranges — these are things of the moment 
that die at their birth." 

INIany anecdotes of the famous gastronomers and 
great personages of his time have been recounted by 

204. 



1 RO^I C AREISIE TO DUMAS 

Careme. To Cambaceres he refers at length, disput- 
ing his claim to a distinguished place among epicures. 
The cuisine of the arch-chancellor, he states decisively, 
never merited its great reputation. This was through 
no fault of his chef, ]M. Grand 'JNIanche, an excellent 
practitioner, but was due solely to the excessive par- 
simony of his employer, who at each service was in the 
habit of noting the entrees that were untouched or 
scarcely touched, and of forming his carte for the mor- 
row with their remains. 

"What a dinner, merciful heavens ! I would not say that 
the dessert may not be utilised, but that it may not supply a 
dinner for a prince and an eminent gastronomer. This is a 
delicate question ; the master has nothing to say, nothing to 
see; the skill and probity of the cook alone should enter into 
the facts. The dessert should only be employed with precau- 
tion, skill, and especially in silence. 

"The arch-chancellor received from the departments in- 
numerable gifts of provisions and the finest of poultry. All 
such were forthwith engulfed in a vast larder of which he re- 
tained the key. He kept tally of the provisions, the dates of 
their arrival, and he alone gave orders for their utilisation. 
Frequently, when he issued his orders the provisions were 
spoiled . 

"Cambaceres was never a gourmand in the scientific ac- 
ceptance of the word ; he was naturally a great and even vora- 
cious eater. Can one believe tliat he preferred, above all 
dishes, the pate chaud with forcemeat balls? — a heavy, un- 
savoury, and vulgar dish. As a liors-d'oeuvre he had fre- 
(luently a crust of pate reheated on the grill, and had brought 
to table the comhien of a ham that had done duty for the week. 
And his skilful cook who never had the grand fundamental 
sauces ! neither his under-cooks or aids nor his bottle of Bor- 

205 



THE PLExVSURES OF THE TABLE 

(Icaux ! WliJit });irsiin()iiy ! what a pit v ! wliat an e-stablisli- 
ment ! 

"Neither M. Canibaceres nor M. Brillat-Savarin knew how- 
to eat. Both were fond of strong and vulgar tilings, and 
simply filled their stomachs. This is literally true. ]\I. de 
Savarin was a large eater, and talked little and without facil- 
ity, it seemed to nie ; he had a heavy air and resembled a par- 
.son. At the end of a repast his digestion absorbed him, and 
I have seen him go to sleep." 

Charles JNIonselet has termed Savarin a mere selt- 
zer drinker, while Dmnas says he was neither a gas- 
tronomer nor a gourmet, but simply a vigorous eatert 
"His large size, his heavy carriage, his common ap- 
pearance, with his costume ten or twelve years behind 
the times, caused him to be termed the drimi-major 
of the Court of Cassation. All at once, and a dozen 
years after his death, we have inherited one of the 
most charming books of gastronomy that it is pos- 
sible to imagine — the 'Physiologic du Gout.' " 

"JNIy work is a manual to be ceaselessly consulted," 
Careme remarked with reference to his "oNIaitre- 
d'Hotel Fran^ais." The truth of this assertion be- 
comes manifest at once on reading the exquisitely 
careful directions which characterise all his treat- 
ises. The published works of the versatile author- 
chef include "Le Maitre-d'Hotel Franc^ais," "Le Cui- 
sinier Parisien," "Le Patissier Royal Parisien," "Le 
Patissier Pittoresque," and "L'Art de la Cuisine 
Fran9aise au Dix-neuvieme Siecle," in several of 
which the copious illustrations reveal his skill as a 
draughtsman. His death occurred while giving a les- 
son in his art. The day of his decease one of his schol- 

206 



FRO]M CAREINIE TO DUI^IAS 

ars gave him some quenelles of sole to taste. "The 
quenelles are good," he remarked, "only thej^ were 
prepared too hastily; you must shake the saucepan 
lightly." In so saying he indicated hy a slight motion 
the movement he desired to communicate. But after 
two or three motions his once facile hand refused to 
respond to his will, and the great artist was no more. 

"The asparagus plumps out at the name of Ca- 
reme!" exclaimed one of his admirers; "the hare that 
roams the forest utters his name to the stag who passes 
hy; the stag repeats it to the pheasant; the lark sings 
it in his flight to the sun." 

Louis Eustache Ude, once chef of Louis XVI, and 
founder of the modern French school in England, 
exerted considerable influence upon the better cook- 
ery of his day. His "French Cook" appeared in 1822, 
and a few years afterwards he became chef of Crock- 
ford's Club, the year during which his former em- 
ployer, the Duke of York, died. The story is told 
that, on hearing of the duke's illness, Ude exclaimed, 
''Ah! mon imnvre Due, how greatly you will miss me 
where you are gone!" Of the finesse that appertains 
to cookery, of the difficulty to become perfect in the 
art, Ude wrote as follows: 

"What science demands more study? Every man is not 
born with the qualifications necessary to constitute a good 
cook. jNIusic, dancing, fencinfjf, painting, and mechanics in 
^■eneral possess professors under twcnt}^ years of age, whereas 
in the first line of cooking preeminence never occurs under 
thirty. We see daily at concerts and academies young men 
and women who display the greatest abilities, but in our line 
nothing but the most consummate experience can elevate a 
207 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

mail to the rank of chiei" professor. Cookery is an art appre- 
ciated by only a very few individuals, and which requires, in 
addition to most diligent and studious application, no small 
share of intellect and the strictest sobriety and punctuality ; 
there are cooks and cooks — the difficulty lies in finding the 
perfect one." « 

L^de was succeeded in England by Charles Elme 
Francatelli, a distinguished pupil of Careme, who 
presided as chef at Chesterfield House and various 
clubs until he became officier de houche to the queen. 
His "^Modern Cook" is still a superior treatise, and 
although little adapted to the average household, it 
will well repay careful study on the part of the expert 
amateur. "The palate is as capable and nearly as 
worthy of education as the eye and the ear," says 
Francatelli — a statement which his volume abun- 
dantly bears out. 

A scholar of Careme, Francatelli was quick to note 
that si Vliabit fait Vliomme, it fait aussi Ventrce — that 
the sense of sight has its delight as well as the taste, 
and one sees, accordingly, an ornate observance of 
decoration in his grand army of side-dishes. These 
are excellent throughout, but generally very elabo- 
rate, while his sauces and recipes for pastry are espe- 
cially good. The same may be said of his quenelles 
and timbales. A competent hand will find his work 
a valuable guide from wliich to obtain ideas; it is not 
a practical book for the majority. One should always 
remember, among numerous other things, his deli- 
cious sauces, numbers sixty-five and sixty-six, for 
venison, which may also be used with a saddle of mut- 

208 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

ton, and his recipes for trout au g rat in and soup a la 
reine. The venison sauce especially should not be 
forgotten : 

"Bruise one stick of cinnamon and twelve cloves, and put 
thcni into a small stewpan with two ounces of sugar and the 
peel of one lemon pared off very thin and perfectly free from 
an}' portion of white pulp ; moisten with three glasses of port 
wine, and set the whole to simmer gently on the fire for a quar- 
ter of an hour ; then strain it through a sieve into a small 
stewpan containing a pot of red currant jelly. Just before 
sending the sauce to table, set it on the fire to boil, in order 
to melt the currant jelly, so that it may mix with the essence 
of spice, etc." 

The second sauce is made in the same manner, ex- 
cept that black-currant jelly is substituted for the red. 
Good Bordeaux may be employed in place of port to 
advantage, rendering the sauce less cloying, and half 
the prescribed quantity of cloves will be found amply 
sufficient. 

After Francatelli, Alexis Soyer did his part to- 
wards the improvement of the higher classes of Eng- 
land. As an author he was ambitious, if not distin- 
guished, his published works numbering four, viz.: 
"The Gastronomic Regenerator," "The Modern 
Housewife, or Menagere," "The Panthropheon or 
History of Food," and "A Shilling Cookery for the 
People." From the fact that the last-named volume 
reached its two hundred and forty-eighth thousand, 
it may be concluded it was not a distinguished work, 
and was written to attract the midtitude who do not 
appreciate. The warm reception given to his "^lena- 
209 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

.;v 

gere," according to a reviewer in "Eraser's INIaga- \ 
zine," indicated, "with a statistical accuracy very su- 
perior to the census, the lamentably small number of 
educated palates and self -comprehending stomachs 
which this country possesses." Like Careme, Soyer 
had studied the cuisine of the ancients attentively, and 
in this respect his "History of Food" becomes a valu- 
able addition to the student's library. But his execu- 
tion is said to have been far below his conception, and 
his soups much inferior to his soup-kitchens. He 
refrains from giving a certain recipe for crawfish a 
la Sampayo, which appeared in one of his bills of fare, 
on account of an agreemeiit between himself and M. 
Sampayo, adding that the reason of the enormous ex- 
pense of the dish was that "two large bottles of Peri- 
gord truffles, which do not cost less than four guineas, 
are stewed with them in champagne." But inasmuch 
as the virtues of the truffle are sadly dissipated in its 
preserved state, and chefs generally use an ordinary 
Chablis or other wine in place of champagne, one need 
not be seriously concerned with the loss of the craw- 
fish. 

As the quotation of recipes would call for consid- 
erable space, it may be wise to dispense with any 
further illustrations in the instance of the above-men- 
tioned artists, and pass at once to the French author 
of the never-failing grace whose grand "Dictionary 
of Cookery" is marked by that felicity of expression 
and fecunditj^ of invention so characteristic of all his 
works. From the somewhat stilted style of Soyer it 
becomes doubly pleasing to turn to the laughing pages 

210 



FRO]M CAREINIE TO DUMAS 

of Dumas, iit once suggestive and inspiring, pointed 
in paragraph and scintillant with anecdote.' 

The author of "JNIonte Cristo" and "The Three 
JNIusketeers" has also left an illustrious name as a cook, 
a host, and an epicure. And if, of all celebrated ar- 
tists, it might be Careme A\'hom one would wish to 
prepare the dinner, who more delightful than Dumas 
as a vis-a-vis at the repast? But his expansive smile 
and his bonhomie, are reflected in his w-ritings, and 
his "intuition of all" is no less apparent when dealing 
with cookery than when detailing the intrigues of 
cardinals and courtiers. A Chartreuse becomes as im- 
portant as the missing necklace of a queen, and the 
theory of frying no less momentous than the fate of 
the prisoner of the Chateau d'lf. As Octave Lacroix 
has phrased it, "Assuredly it is a great attainment 
to be a romancist, but it is by no means a mediocre 
glory to be a cook. . . . Romancist or cook, 
Alexandre Dumas is a chef, and the two vocations 
appear in him to go hand in hand, or rather to be 
joined in one." 

The two introductory epistles, an anecdotal review 
of the art, are among the most felicitous in the lan- 
guage. Nor should we forget the manj^ references to 
the table in the "Impressions de Voyage" and numer- 
ous otlier volumes. The ]Marquis de Cussy, Jules 
Janin, Charles JNIonselet, and others have treated the 
same subject at more or less length, but none of them 
so comprehensively. "I wish to conclude," Dumas 

1 "Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, par Alexandre Dumas. Paris, Alphonse 
Lemerre, Editeur, Passage Choiseul, 18T3." 

211 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

often said, "my literary work of five hundred volumes 
by a work on cookery." This was his great ambition, 
and to it he devoted his most zealous efforts. "I see 
with pleasure," he remarks in one of his volumes, "that 
my culinary reputation is increasing, and soon prom- 
ises to efface my literary reputation. ... I 
therefore make the announcement that as soon as I 
am freed from the claims of certain editors I will 
show you a book of practical cookery by which the 
most ignorant in matters gastronomical will be able 
to prepare, as easily as my honourable friend Vuille- 
mot, an espagnole or a mirepoiocy ^ 

With Dumas to promise was to fulfil, and in due 
time his book — the last volume from his pen — ap- 
peared, a tall folio of over a thousand pages, with the 
spirited etching of the author by Raj on. While this 
is more especially devoted to the French kitchen, it 
contains a large number of recipes from foreign coun- 
tries where the author had travelled. It thus becomes 
a compendium of man}'^ different schools, offering a 
wide rangfe for selection. Written, moreover, by an 
amateur, it is also an easier guide than many of the 
professional manuals of the haute cuisine. In the 
"Dictionary" everything is passed under review — 
from snails a la proven^ale to the feet of elephants, 
from filets of kangaroo to lambs' tails glacees a 
la chicoree, the list of fishes including an account 
of the origin of the term "Poisson d'Avril" (April 
fool). 

Even the babiroussa, or w^ild Asian hog, is not 
forgotten, the author pronouncing its flesh very deli- 

^ " Propos d'Art ct de Cuisine." 

212 



L'ART 

DU CUISINIER, 

PAR A. BEAUVILLIERS, 

Ancien OfGcier <Je Monsiex.'r, comte de Provence, attacKc 
aux Extraordinaires des Maisons royalcs , et actucllcnicnl 
Restaurateur, ruede Richelieu, n" 26, alagrandeTaverne 
de Londres. 



TOME DEUXlfeMK 




A PARIS, 

CHEZ riLLET VINE, IMPRIMEUR-LlBRAlRt, 

EDITBUR DE LA COLLKCTION DES IKEl'RS FKANrAlSES, 

nOE CHRISTINE, N° 5; 

ET CHEZ COWfET, WBRAIRE, QUA.1 MALAQUAIS , N" g. 

1824. 



"L'ART DU CUISINIER" (BEAUVILLIERS ) 
Facsimile of titlo-pago, 1S24. Vol. II. 



FROM CAREJNIE TO DUMAS 

cate, and presenting this additional information con- 
cerning its character: 

" 'Ah ! mon Dieu,' asked a lady of her husband, as they were 
looking at a babiroussa at the Jardin dcs Plantes, 'what kind 
of an animal is that, my dear, who instead of two horns has 
four?' 

" 'Madame,' said some one who was passing by, 'that is a 
widower who has remarried.' " 



There are recipes from Beauvilliers, Careme, the 
JMarqiiis de Cussy, and the cook of King Stanislas; 
from the manuals of the times of Louis XIV and 
XV; from the cafes Anglais, Verdier, Brebant, 
INIagny, Grignon, Vefour, and Very; from Elzear- 
Blaze,La Reyniere, the Provincial Brothers, and Vuil- 
lemot, proprietor of the Tete Noire at St. Cloud. 
One's mouth waters as he reads the vast alphabet of 
dishes. There are, for example, thirty-one modes pre- 
sented for preparing the carj), and fifty-six for dress- 
ing the egg, apart from the omelet, with sixteen 
recipes for artichokes and a dozen for asparagus. 
There is the Java formula for cooking halcyons' nests, 
and that of the cook of Richelieu for godiveau, a 
dissertation on the hocco, and a prescription for bus- 
tards a la daiihe. Xo wonder that Dumas has de- 
fined the dinner as a daily and capital action 
that can be worthily accomplished only bj^ gens 
d' esprit. 

This is well illustrated by an anecdote in the dedi- 
catory epistle to Jules Janin, which shows the char- 
acteristic hand of Dumas to advantage: 
213 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"The Viscount de \'ioil-C'?istcl, brother of Count Horace de 
Vieil-Castel, one of the finest epicures of France, made this 
proposition at a gathering of friends: 

" 'A single person can eat a (hnner costing five hundred 
francs.' 

" 'Impossible !' was the simultaneous exclamation. 

" 'It is well understood,' resumed the Viscount, 'that by the 
term eating is included drinking as well.' 

" 'Parbleu !' replied his friends. 

" 'A^ery well ; I say that a man, and by a man I do not mean 
a carter but an epicure — a pupil of ]\Iontron or of Cour- 
champs — can eat a dinner of five hundred francs,' 

" 'You, for example?' 

" 'I, or any one else.' 

"'Can you.^' 

" 'Certainly.' 

" 'I hold the five hundred francs,' said one of the b3'stand- 
ers; 'name your conditions.' 

" 'That is a simple matter. I will dine at the Cafe de Paris, 
make up my bill of fare, and eat my fivc-hundred-franc 
dinner.' 

" 'Without leaving anything on the dishes or plates.^' 

" 'No, indeed ; I will leave the bones.' 

" 'And when will the wager take place.'" 

" 'To-morrow, if vou sa}^ so.' 

" 'Then you will not breakfast.'*' asked one of the b3'- 
standers. 

" 'I will breakfast as usual.' 

" 'Be it so. To-morrow at seven, at the Cafe de Paris.' 

"The same evening the Viscount dined as usual at the res- 
taurant ; then, after dinner, in order not to be influenced by 
stomachic cravings, he set about preparing his carte for the 
following day. 

"The maitre-d'hotel was summoned. It was midwinter; the 

214 



FROM CARE:ME to DUMAS 

\'iscount suggested numerous fruits and early vegetables. 
The hunting season was closed; he wanted some game. 

"A week's grace was asked by the maitre-d'hotel. 

"The dinner was postponed for a week. 

"On the right and left of the table the judges were to dine. 

"The Viscount had two hours in which to dine — from seven 
to nine. 

"He could talk or not, as he chose. 

"At the appointed hour the Viscount appeared, saluted the 
judges, and turned towards the table. 

"The bill of fare was to remain a mystery to his adver- 
saries ; they were to have the pleasure of a surprise. 

"The Viscount sat down. He was served with twelve dozen 
Ostende oysters, with a half-bottle of Johannisberger. 

"The Viscount was in excellent appetite ; he asked for an- 
other twelve dozen oysters, and another half-bottle of the 
same growth. 

"Then came a soup of swallows' nests, which the Viscount 
poured in a bowl and drank as a bouillon. 

" 'Really, gentlemen,' said he, 'I am in fine trim to-day, and 
I have a notion to gratify a whim.' 

" 'Go on, pardieu, you are. the doctor.' 

" 'I adore beefsteak and potatoes.' 

" 'Gentlemen, no advice, if you please,' said a j^oice. 

" 'Pooh ! waiter,' said the Viscount, 'a beefsteak and po- 
tatoes.' 

"The waiter, astonished, looked at the Viscount. 

" 'Don't you understand me?' said the latter. 

" 'But I thought that Monsieur le Vicomte had made up his 
bill of fare?' 

" 'That is true, but this is an extra ; I will pay for it sepa- 
rately.' 

"Tlie judges looked at each other. The beefsteak and po- 
tatoes were brought on, and were promptly despatched. 
215 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

" 'Now for the fish !' 

"The fish was brought on. 

" 'Gentlemen,' said the Viscount, 'it is a trout from Lake 
Geneva. I saw it this morning while I was breakfasting; it 
was still alive; it was brought from Geneva to Paris in the 
waters of the lake. I can recommend this fish to you — it is 
delicious.' 

"Five minutes later only the bones remained. 

" 'The pheasant, waiter !' said the Viscount. 

"A truffled pheasant was brought on. 

" 'Another bottle of Bordeaux of the same gro^wih.' 

"The second bottle was brought. 

"In ten minutes the pheasant was disposed of. 

" 'INIonsieur,' said the waiter, 'I think you have made a mis- 
take in calling for the truffled pheasant before the salmis of 
ortolans.' 

" 'Ah ! that is so. Fortunately it is not stated in what order 
the ortolans are to be eaten ; otherwise I should have lost. The 
salmis of ortolans, waiter !' 

"The salmis of ortolans was brought on. 

"There were twelve ortolans — twelve mouthfuls for the 
Viscount. 

" 'Gentlemen,' said the Mscount, 'my bill of fare is very 
simple. Now for some asparagus, green peas, a banana, and 
strawberries. As for wine, a half-bottle of Constance and a 
half-bottle of sherry that has made the voyage to India. 
Then, of course, some coffee and liqueurs.' 

"Everything appeared in its turn — vegetables and fruit 
were conscientiously eaten, and the wines and liqueurs were 
drunk to tlie last drop. 

"The Viscount was an hour and fourteen minutes in dining. 

" 'Gentlemen,' said he, 'has everything gone right.'" 

"The judges acquiesced. 

" 'Waiter, the carte !' 

216 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

"At this epoch the term addition was not used. 

"The Viscount ran his eye over the total, and passed the 
carte to the judges. 

"This was the carte: 

fr. c. 

Ostende oysters, 24 dozen 30 " 

Soup of swallows' nests 150 " 

Beefsteak and potatoes 2 " 

Trout from Lake Geneva 40 " 

Truffled pheasant 40 " 

Salmis of ortolans 50 " 

Asparagus 15 " 

Bananas 24 " 

Strawberries 20 " 

Green peas 12 " 

Wines. 

Johannisberg, one bottle 24 " 

Bordeaux, grand cru, two bottles 50 " 

Constance, a half -bottle . . . .* 40 " 

Sherry, retour de VInde, a half -bottle 50 " 

Coffee, liqueurs 1 50 

Total 548 50 

"The sum total was verified and the carte was taken to the 
adversary of the Viscount, who was dining in an adjoining 
room. 

"In five minutes he appeared, saluted the Viscount, took six 
bills of a thousand francs from his pocket, and presented tlicm 
to him. 

"It was the amount of the wager. 

"'Oh, Monsieur,' said the Viscount, 'there was no hurry; 
besides, perliaps you would liavc liked your revenge.' 

217 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

" 'You would have granted it to me?' 

" 'Surely !' 

"'When?' 

" 'Immediately.' " 

But the reputation of the Viscount as a belle four- 
chette was exceeded by that of a Swiss guard in the 
employ of the Marechal de Villars, an account of 
whose prowess is related by the "Journal des De- 
fenseurs": 

"One day the guard was sent for by the INIarechal, who had 
heard of his enormous appetite. 

" 'How many sirloins of beef can you cat ?' he tentatively 
asked. 

" 'Ah ! Monscigncur, for me I don't require man}', five or 
six at the most.' 

" 'And how manj^ legs of nmtton ?' 

" 'Legs of inutton.f* not many — seven to eight.' 

"'And of fat pullets.?' 

" 'Oh ! as to pullets, only a few — a dozen.' 

" 'And of pigeons.'" 

" 'As to pigeons, Monseigncur, not many — forty, perhaps 
fifty.' 

"'And larks?' 

" 'Larks, Monseigncur? — always!' " 

Another example of marvellous capacity is fur- 
nished by the French army, a captain wagering one 
day that a drummer of his compan}^ could eat a whole 
calf. The drummer, proud of liis distinction, prom- 
ised to do honour to the captain's compliment. Ac- 
cordingly, a calf was prepared in various appetising 

218 



FROM CAREISIE TO DUMAS 

ways, and was being j)romptly disposed of by the 
drummer. When he had finally consumed about three 
quarters of the repast, he paused for another draught 
of wine, and, placing his knife and fork on his plate, 
said to his superior officer: 

''You had better have the calf brought on, had you 
not? for all these little kickshaws will end in taking 
up room." 

The Cafe de Paris, first opened in 1822 on the Bou- 
levard des Italiens in the large suite of apartments 
formerly occupied by Prince Demidoff, was the best 
restaurant in Europe during the forties and in Du- 
mas' time — a position it probably occupies to-day, 
since the closing of Bignon's. Alfred de Musset was 
accustomed to sa}^ that "one could not open its door 
for less than fifteen francs." But if its charges were 
high, its cuisine and service were unsurpassed. Those 
who dance must pay for the piping, and the cotillion 
of the casseroles is no exception to the rule. Every 
one who honoured the establishment, it is said, was 
considered by the personnel a grand seigneur for 
whom nothing could be too good. When Balzac one 
day announced the arrival of a distinguished Russian 
friend, he asked the proprietor to put his best foot 
forward. "Assuredly, JNIonsieur, we will do so," was 
the answer, "because it is simply what we are in the 
habit of doing every day." Balzac's favourite dish 
was veau c) la casserole, a specialty of the Cafe de 
Paris in the forties. 

Rossini, a contemporary and friend of Balzac and 
Dumas, was not alone a famous musician, — composer 
of "Tell" and the "Stabat :Mater,"— but was also a dis- 
219 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tinguished fourchctte and a cook of ability. One of his 
most celebrated compositions — that of a certain man- 
ner of preparing macaroni which is said to have vied 
in seductiveness with the sweetest strains of the "Bar- 
bier de Seville" — is unfortnnately lost to the world 
through a prejudice of Dumas. 

One day the great romancist, who never ate maca- 
roni in any form, asked the noted composer for his 
recipe, being anxious to add it to his culinary reper- 
toire. "Come and eat some with me to-morrow at 
dinner, and you shall have it," was the answer. But 
the host, perceiving that his guest would not touch a 
dish on which he had bestowed so much pains, refused 
to give him the formula, whereupon Dumas circulated 
the report that it was his cook, not Rossini, who was 
master of the secret, and forthwith presented at length 
a recipe given him by the famous INIme. Ristori as "the 
true, the only, the unique manner of preparing maca- 
roni a la ncapoUtainey 

Already in 1830 the excessive charges of the fash- 
ionable restaurants were loudly complained of. On 
tliis subject tlie "Nouvel Almanach des Gourmands" 
of that date says : 

"The Boulevard Italien is the privileged seat of the cafes- 
restaurants ; there one may dine excellently, but it must be 
confessed one is cruelly plucked. From this fact has arisen 
the proverb, 'One must be very hardy to dine at the Cafe Riche, 
and very rich to dine at the Cafe Hardi.' ^lay it not be 
added that one needs to be an English peer to dine at the Cafe 
Anglais, and a millionaire Parisian to try the Cafe de Paris? 
One may dine well at Very's, but one will ruin himself; while 

220 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

the fish which is excellent at the Rocher de Cancale is scarcely 
exchanged for its weight in five-franc pieces," 

Often in the midst of a dinner, on tasting of some 
novel dish at his favourite restaurant, the Cafe de 
Paris, Dumas would lay down his fork — "I must get 
the recipe of this dish." The proprietor was then 
sent for to authorise the novelist to descend to the 
kitchens and hold a consultation with his chefs. He 
was the only one of the habitues to whom this privilege 
was ever allowed; these excursions were usually fol- 
lowed by an invitation to dine with Dumas a few days 
later, when his newly acquired knowledge would be 
put into practice. 

There were those, nevertheless, that previous to the 
advent of the "Dictionary" were sceptical as to Du- 
mas' culinary accomplishments. Among such was 
Dr. Veron, author of the "Memoires" and founder of 
the "Revue de Paris," who, with several other notabili- 
ties, had been invited by the novelist to partake of a 
carp of his own preparation. For days and days 
Veron, who was extremely fond of fish, talked of noth- 
ing else to his cordon-hleu. 

"Wliere did you taste it?" said Sophie, becoming 
somewhat jealous of this praise of others, — "at the 
Cafede Paris?" 

"Xo, — at jNIonsieur Dumas'." 

"Well, then, I'll go to Monsieur Dumas' cook and 
get the recipe." 

"That 's of no use," objected her master. "JNIon- 
sieur Dumas prepared the dish himself." 
221 



TIIK PLEASriiES OF THE TABEE 

"Well, then, I'll go to ^Monsieur Dumas himself 
and ask him to give me the recipe." 

Sophie was as good as her word, and at once betook 
herself to the Chaussee d'Antin. The great novelist 
felt flattered, and gave her every possible information, 
but somehow the dish was not like that her master had 
so much enjoyed at his friend's. Then Sophie grew 
morose, and began to throw out hints about the great 
man's borrowing other people's feathers in his culinary 
pursuits, just as he did in his literary ones. "It 
is with his carp as with his novels — others write 
them, and he merely adds his name," she said 
one day. "I have seen him; he is a gi'and diable de 

Influenced by his cook's remarks and the failure of 
the dish, and forgetting that surroundings often add 
much to flavour, Veron, on his part, felt inclined to 
think that Dumas had a clever chef in the background, 
upon whose victories he plumed himself. A few days 
afterwards, meeting Veron at the Cafe de Paris, Du- 
mas inquired after the result of Sophie's efforts. The 
doctor was reticent at first, not caring to acknowledge 
Sophie's failure. When one of the company at last 
mentioned the suspicions attached to the carp, Dumas 
became furious. Then, after a pause, he said, "There 
is but one reply to such a charge: you will all dine 
with me to-morrow, and you will choose a delegate 
who will come to my house at three to see me prepare 
the dinner." 

"I was the youngest," says the author of "An Eng- 
lishman in Paris," who relates the story, "and the 
choice fell upon me. That is how my lifelong friend- 

99 O 



FROM CAKEJME TO DUJMAS 

ship with Dumas began. At three o'clock next day I 
was at the Chaussee d'Antin, and was taken by the 
servant into the kitchen, where the great novehst stood 
surrounded by his utensils, some of silver, and all of 
them glistening like silver. With the exception of a 
soiipe mix clioUiV, at which, by his own confession, he 
had been at work since the morning, all the ingre- 
dients for the dinner were in their natural state — of 
course, washed and peeled, but nothing more. He was 
assisted by his own cook and a kitchen-maid, but he 
himself, with his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a large 
apron round his waist, and bare chest, conducted the 
operations. I do not think I have ever seen anything 
more entertaining, and I came to the conclusion that 
when writers insisted upon the culinary challenges of 
Careme, Duglere, and Casimir they were not indulg- 
ing in mere metaphor. 

"At half -past six the guests began to arrive; at a 
quarter to seven Dumas retired to his dressing-room; 
at seven punctually the servant announced that 'mon- 
sieur etait servi.' The dinner consisted of the afore- 
named soupe aux choux, the carp that had led to the 
invitation, a ragout de mouton a la Hongroise, roti 
de faisans, and a salade Japonaise. The sweets and 
ices had been sent by the pdtissier. I never dined like 
that before or after — not even a week later, when Dr. 
Veron and Sophie made the amende honorable in the 
Rue Taitbout." 

As a sample of Dumas' abilities in the petite eui- 
dne, his potage aux clioux may be cited, — his mode of 
preparing Sauerkraut, like that of all French cooks, 
is not to be commended : 
223 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"Take a sound fresh cabbage, hash up all the remains of 
fowl and game that may be on hand, and have a good yester- 
day's bouillon, which pour in place of ordinary water on the 
beef intended for the day's bouillon. Then cover the bottom 
of the stewpan with a slice of fine ham, I'emove the leaves of 
the cabbage, and introduce the forcemeat, tying up the leaves 
afterwards so it will not be perceptible. Boil two hours, fill- 
ing with the bouillon of the pot-au-feu as the bouillon of the 
boiling diminishes. After removing the bouillon from the fire, 
let the bouillon, cabbage, forcemeat, and ham simmer to- 
gether for three quarters of an hour in the stewpan, give a 
last turn to the bouillon, serve your cabbage in the soup- 
tureen, allow it to cool a minute, and serve. Then you may 
have the choice of eating your cabbage in the soup, or of soak- 
ing some bread in the bouillon and making of your cabbage a 
releve of the soup. Cooked in this manner, the cabbage, the 
bouillon, and the meat, each lending a part of its properties 
to the other, attain the greatest sapidity it is possible for them 
to attain." 

This is the potage aiur choua\ The soupe aucc choux 
is another matter that sounds equally appetising and 
has the advantage to the eye of puffing up the cab- 
bage to far larger dimensions. 

The extended remarks on the pot-au-feu itself are 
well worth the careful attention of the housewife ; the 
author declaring that the French cuisine owes its supe- 
riority to that of other nations to the excellence of its 
bouillon. Seven hours of slow and continuous boiling, 
he maintains, are necessary for it to acquire all the 
requisite qualities, i. e., to fairc sour ire the soup. The 
term, "smile," is happily chosen. Every piece of 
bread in a good croute-au-pot wears a smile, and every 

224 



FROM CAREME TO DUMAS 

dancing globule that remains after the skimmer has 
performed its office is a dimple on its face. 

Of the basting of meats — and herein the average 
cook stands in need of constant advice and still more 
constant watching — he has this to say (he is speaking 
of a truffled turkey after the recipe of the INIarquis 
de Cussy, which he suggests might be called Dinde 
des Artistes) : "Above all, never moisten your roasts, 
of whatever nature they may be, except with butter 
mixed with salt and pepper. A cook who allows a 
single drop of bouillon in the dripping-pan should be 
instantly discharged and banished from France." 

One of the brightest chapters of the volume is an 
essay w^hich appears in the appendix — a eulogium of 
a certain mustard, in which Dumas out-Reynieres 
Reyniere. But one may overlook the subtle puffery 
that sheds a halo over the product of "INI. Bornibus," 
in view of the vast erudition the writer dis]3lays and 
the grace with which the topic is invested. The essay 
first appeared in JNIonselet's entertaining "Almanach 
Gourmand" of 1869, the etymology of the word hav- 
ing been the subject of a wager between the writer 
and some of his friends. Of Dumas it may be said, 
as it has been said of the truffle, he "embellishes every- 
thing he touches" ; or, to paraphrase Savarin's defini- 
tion, ''Qui dit Dumas, prononce un grand mot." 

Among the most distinguished of modern profes- 
sional cooks was Jules GoufFe, former officicr dc 
houche of the Jockey Club of Paris, whose "Livre de 
Cuisine" and "Livre de Patisserie" are unexcelled as 
guides to the greatest triumphs 6f the art of which 
they treat. The "Livre de Cuisine," which first ap- 
225 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TA15LE 

peared in 1865, is not a manual that can be utilised in 
the ordinary establishment, however; but a volume 
on a grand scale, written by a great chef for chefs. 
Francatelli, though very elaborate, is much more sim- 
ple. At any rate, it is possible to simplify his recipes, 
or to derive many new ideas from them, even where his 
formulas may not be executed in the average house- 
hold. But to follow Gouffe calls for the very high- 
est professional skill and the most lavish expenditure, 
— the hand of a master, a larder of cockscombs, craw- 
fish, truffles, plover and pheasants' eggs, not to men- 
tion a cellar of Chateau INIargaux, champa'gne, and 
Chablis iNIoutonne. His recipe for quails a la finan- 
ciered one of his nine elaborate ways of preparing the 
bird, will serve as well as any for illustration : 

"Truss eight quails as for braising, put them in a stew- 
I^an, cover them with thin slices of fat bacon, pour in one gill 
of IMadeira and one half pint of mirepoix, and let simmer 
until the quails are cooked. Fill a plain border-mould one and 
a quarter inches high with chicken forcemeat, poach it au 
bain-marie, and turn the border out of the mould into a dish 
and fill the centre with a pnanciere ragout made of foies gras, 
truffles, cockscombs, cocks'-kernels, and chicken forcemeat 
quenelles mixed in financicre sauce. Drain the quails, untie 
them, and place them half on the border, half on the ragout, 
the leg towards the centre, put a cockscomb between each 
quail, and a large truffle in the centre; glaze the border, the 
quails, and truffle with a brush dipped in glaze, and serve with 
financiere sauce." 

With Jules Gouffe, Urbain-Dubois, a chef of the 
highest order, and author of six important works on 

226 



FROM CAREJME TO DUMAS 

cookery, will be known to posterity as one of the great- 
est masters of the range of the second half of the nine- 
teenth century. 

In marked contrast to those of Gouffe and Dubois 
are the numerous cidinary works of Ildefonse-Leon 
Brisse, more familiarly known as Bamn Brisse, and 
who was sometimes termed the Baron FalstafF. Two 
of his manuals, moulded on somewhat similar lines, 
are excellent mentors for the modest household — "The 
366 Menus" (1868) and "La Petite Cuisine" (1870), 
of which mau}^ editions have appeared. In these a 
large number of good, uncommon, and simple dishes 
are presented, and both works may be comprehended 
by all who have a fair practical knowledge of cookery 
at command. According to Theodore de Banville, 
Baron Brisse was "at once an accomplished cook, a 
fine and delicate gourmet, and a gourmand always tor- 
mented with an insatiable hunger." It may therefore 
be assumed that all his recipes have been personally 
tested, and that those he particularly recommends are 
well worthy of trial, bearing out the sentiment he 
expresses in the preface to "La Petite Cuisine," — 
'This book is a good action for which I will be duly 
credited in this world or the other." Besides his nu- 
merous volumes on cookery, he founded and contrib- 
uted to several culinary journals. He laughed and 
ate. He was of enormous stature, and always was 
obliged to secure two places in the diligence between 
Paris and his home at Fontenay-aux-Roses, where he 
resided previous to his death in 1876. With Jules 
GoufFe he instituted a series of dinners where the 
guests were expected to dine in white frocks and 
227 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

round white caps, like the fat old cooks that Roland 
has painted — dinners presided over by the baron, 
whose bonhomie was proverbial, and executed under 
the directions of Gouffe himself. But apart from his 
excellent cookery-books. Baron Brisse should be held 
in abiding reverence by all entertainers that are 
worthy of the name, if only for his splendid axiom, — 
"The host whose guest has been obliged to ask him 
for anything is a dishonoured man!" 




228 




THE COOK'S CONFRERE 



"Les vxies courtes, je veux dire les esprits bornez et resserrez dans leiu- jietite sphere, 
ne peuvent comprendre cette universalite de talens que Ton remarque quelquefois dans uu 
meme sujet." — La Bruyere: Du Merite Personnel. 



IT were ungracious to trace the development of 
gastronomy further, or to peruse its hterature at 
greater length, without rendering justice to the chief 
cause of its progress, deprived of which a Careme and 
a Gouffe were impossible, and cookery, from a fine 
art, would resolve itself into a perfunctory obligation. 
The reader who has followed the writer thus far will 
surely not require to be told that the great evolution- 
ist of the table is neither the cook nor yet the range 
or the pot-au-feu so much as the quadruped that 
Rome once selected for its badge and cognisance. A 
tout seigneur, tout honneur! — let us not be unmind- 
ful of the inestimable benefits the hog has conferred 
upon mankind. Where, indeed, may one find that 
229 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

universality of talents referred to by La Bru^'ere so 
combined in a single individual as in the animal which 
the "short-sighted and narrow-minded" has so un- 
justly maligned? To what utilities does he not lend 
and blend himself, and where among Ungiilata or 
ruminators terrene were his substitute — a piece de re- 
sistauce for the poor, a jouissance and benison for all. 

If we accept the testimony of various pagan writers, 
pork, of which the ancients were so fond, originally 
came into use about a thousand years after the deluge, 
when Ceres, having sown a field of wheat, found it in- 
vaded one day by a pig. This so incensed the goddess 
that she forthwith punished the offender with death, 
and afterwards, having him cooked, discovered his su- 
perior virtues — to set the example of utilising him as 
food. The usual corn-cob placed in the mouth of a 
freshly killed porker, therefore, not only reflects the 
delicacy of his tastes, but is also classic in a measure — 
a symbol of his intimate relationship with mythology 
and his place amid the Graces. 

By the ancient Egyptians the flesh of the swine was 
held to be impure. So was that of the camel, the cony, 
and the hare; so also the fat of the ox or of sheep or 
of goat. "Every beast of the wood or the hedge or 
the burrow, over and above the beasts of the chase 
and the warren, according to the ancient writers, is to 
be called 'rascal.' " The hog is likewise placed under 
ban by the Hindus and strict Buddhists, and is still 
generally regarded as unclean by the JNIohammedans. 
But the jNIohammedans and Hindus have no cuisine 
worthy of the name, and what were a cuisine without 
the resources supplied by his inexhaustible larder! 

230 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

The religions tenet of the Israelites by which the swine 
is proscribed as an article of diet is honoured more in 
the breach than in the observance. The Chinese have 
ever been fond of his savoury flesh, and it may be said 
that with nearly all nations he forms one of the lead- 
ing staples of consimiption. With the onion and that 
priceless herb parsley, which stimulates appetite, facili- 
tates digestion, and renders nearly all sauces more 
attractive, he forms one of the most indispensable ad- 
juncts of alimentation. Deprived of his lardship, the 
onion tribe, and parsley, cookery would soon decline, 
if indeed the skilled practitioner would not find it 
well-nigh impossible to exercise his art. 

Despite what slanderous tongues of the East may 
utter to his discredit, therefore, the weight of evidence 
as to his utility remains overwhelmingly in his favour. 
We do not necessarily require him in our parlours; 
his true place is the kitchen and the dining-room. 
Think how unendurable life would be without him! 
Of all beasts he is the one whose empire is most uni- 
versal, and whose worth is least attested. It is true 
that a eulogistic but now unprocurable work of forty- 
eight pages was written in INIodena in 1761 by D. 
Giuseppe Ferrari, with the title "Gli Elogi del Forco." 
A treatise entitled "Dissertation sur le Cochon," by 
M. Buc'hoz, published in 1789, is also cited. But as 
this appeared in a series of monographs relating to 
coffee, cacao, and various fruits, and has been passed 
by without comment, it probably treats the quadruped 
merely from a sordid point of view, and possesses no 
interest unless to the husbandman and stock-raiser. 

Few liave sung his praises, and, with the exception 
231 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

of Southey's colloquial poem, no genethliac has been 
addressed to liim in English rhyme. ]\Ionselet lias 
apostrophised him in a poem wherein he terms him 
"cher ange," and INI. Pouvoisin, in "La INIort du 
Goret," has tenderly referred to him as "mon frere." 
His oraison funehre is worthy of Bossuet: 

"Famcux par sa naissance ct par son elcvcur, 

II est niort, Ic gorct, celebre a tant de litres: 
C'est un deuil, mais un deuil qui n'est pas sans saveur; 

Versons dcs pleurs, amis, surtout versons des litres ! 
II etait si mignon, si larde, si soyeux : 

Nous I'aimions ! Maintenant qu'il a subi la flamme, 
Qu'il est accommode, qu'il est delicicux ; 

Nous lui servons de tombe, et nous en mangeons I'anie. 
Dans la profonde paix des estomacs gourmands, 

Son echine avec sa fressure vont descendre; 
II n'avait pas reve, dans ses gras ronflements, 

D'un semblable caveau pour contcnir sa cendre. 
C'est un honneur bicn du. Quel que soit ton regret 

Des repas plantureux, du son, de I'auge pleine, 
Tu peux t'enorgueillir, 6 mon frere, 6 goret. 

Nous allons te changer, nous, en substance humaine !" 

(Of birtli renowned, entitled well to boast, 

And reared with care, the little pig is dead: 
We sorrow, but we scent the savoury roast. 

And mix a bumper while our tears we shed. 
We loved him, silky-soft, and plump, and fine, 

And now that he has felt the crisping fire 
We wait his soul and body to enshrine, 

A morsel for an epicure's desire. 
He little thought, when grunting in his pen, 

That, seasoned thus to tickle gourmand taste, 

232 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

His chine would glide down throats of feasting men, 

And to a noble tomb within us haste. 
Regret not, little pig, thine early fate: 

Honours are thine beyond the fattening sty, — 
We eat thee, brother, and incorporate 

Thy substance, thus, in our humanity.)^ 

Another poet, in a "Hymn to the Truffle," has ac- 
corded him a semi-comphmentary stanza, referring to 
him as "a useful animal." A mediocre sonnet has also 
been addressed to him by Ernest d'Hervilly in a series 
of seven tributes to the oyster, the pig, the gudgeon, 
the rabbit, the roe-buck, the herring, and the lobster. 

"JNIan's ingratitude toward him," as Grimod de la 
R-eyniere remarks in the "Almanach," "has basely re- 
viled the name of the animal that is the most useful to 
the human race when he is no more. He is treated as 
the Abbe GeofFroy treats Voltaire ; his memory is de- 
famed whilst his flesh is being savoured, and he is 
repaid with ironical contempt for the ineffable plea- 
sures he procures for us." 

His classic Porcosity! sacred to Thor, patron of St. 
Anthony, the device of Richard III, the favourite 
animal of JNIorland and Jacque, how ungenerously 
he has been treated! 

"All his habits are gross, all his appetites are im- 
pure; his stomach is unbounded and his gluttony un- 
paralleled," say his calumniators. Yet, in fact, he is 
no more unclean than most domestic beasts, any lapses 
in t4iis respect being due to man and to the evil com- 
munications to which he has been subjected under do- 

* Rev. Joseph A. Ely's transl. 

233 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

mestication. The wild hog is proverbially cleanly, and 
is almost exclusively a vegetarian. In his natural 
state his courage is undaunted. The peccary will chal- 
lenge the jaguar, while the wild boar is not unfre- 
quently victorious in his combats with the tiger him- 
self. 

"In this animal," says Beauvilliers, "there is almost 
nothing to cast aside." Without him there were, in 
truth, an aching void and an empty cuisine, — no lard, 
no hams, no bacon ; no sausages, no sparerib, no larded 
filets and game; no truffles and scientifically blended 
pates; no souse or headcheese; no "Dissertation on 
Roast Pig"; no chine "with rising bristles roughly 
spread." His ways are ways of fatness, and all his 
paths are progressive. He not onh^ seeks to instruct, 
like Virgil ; but seeks to please, like Theocritus. Civ- 
ilisation radiates from him as light from a prism. 
With his increase culture advances, wealth accumu- 
lates, and cookery improves. And think of the ser- 
vices of his ploughshare to the farmer, whose orchards 
in many cases would otherwise remain untilled! 

His unctuous Lardship! the very fat and marrow 
of the stock-exchange, the grease of the commercial 
wheel. Did he not directly furnish the inspiration 
to Dubuf e for one of the grandest paintings the world 
has produced — the "Return of the Prodigal Son" 
who shared his husks — to say nothing of Hogarth and 
the Scottish poet Hogg, whose ode "To a Skylark" 
is scarcely excelled by Shelley's, and whose "Kil- 
meny" is enduring among poetic strains? And what 
were the spirited hunting scenes of Weenix, Sney- 
ders, and Oudry without the great wild boar? 

234 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

111 the fourth canto of "The Faerie Queene" he is 
pictured as the symbol of gluttony: 

"And by bis side rode loathsome Gluttony, 
Deformed creature on a filthy swine. 

His belly was upblown with luxury-, 

And eke with fatness swollen was his eyne. 

Full of diseases was his carcass blew, 

And a di'y Dropsie through his flesh did flow, 

Which by misdict daily greater grew; 

Such one was Gluttony, the second of that crew." 

Rut is he a glutton? and has he not been outra- 
geously reviled by Spenser as well as by the poets in 
general? Is it fair to accept the dogmas and predica- 
tions concerning his status, his vulgarity, and his 
voracity that have been bequeathed him from time im- 
memorial? Is he not a gourmet rather than a gour- 
mand? Does he not infinitely prefer the smallest 
truffle of Perigord to the hugest pumpkin of the fat 
prairies of the West? Not only inordinately fond of 
the truffle, without which a pate de foie gras were a 
flower without perfmne, he is the great hunter of 
this highly prized esculent, recognising with Autoly- 
cus that a good nose is requisite to smell out work for 
the other senses. Yet even then he is thanklessh^ 
treated by man, who, instead of remunerating him 
with an occasional tuber, grudgingly tosses him a few 
kernels of corn. The despised razorback of the South, 
in like manner, steadfastly performs his mission of 
waging war upon the rattlesnake without ever having 
been chosen as the emblem of a State. 

To the epicure he must ever bring to mind the per- 
235 



THE ri.EASLKES OF THE TABLE 

fumed product of the sunny provinces of Guienne 
and Daupliine, the artists of Alsace, and the IViirst- 
machereis of Germany. His fondness for the truffle, 
as instanced in the wild boar, far exceeds that of the 
hare, the squirrel, and the deer; and although the bas- 
set-hound and sheep-dog are also of service in locat- 
ing the tuber, the pig not only points it, but deftly 
uproots it for the greedy hand of man. The pig 
seeks it by instinct ; the dog, through long and patient 
training. The pig's education is accomplished in a 
few lessons by obtaining his confidence and appealing 
to his epicurean taste. A boiled potato accompanied 
with a few truffle peelings is placed in a mound of 
sand, after finding wliich the animal is rewarded by 
a few chestnuts, acorns, or kernels of maize — and the 
rest is left to his infallible memory. In fact, the dis- 
covery of the truffle is due to the animal under con- 
sideration. "His long snout," says La Reyniere, 
"perceived the odour of this treasure at a depth of 
several metres. L^p to this time, without a doubt, it 
had been reserved for the table of some evil genius 
jealous of the happiness of man; by his cunning he 
concealed it from the researches of the scientist, and 
some fairy, a friend of the human race, charged the 
pig, w^hose keen scent the goblin had forgotten to 
forefend, to mine the buried marvel and bring it to 
the light of day. However this may be, the first pig 
that discovered the truffle had excellent taste; there is 
no hel esprit to-day w^io is not eager to imitate him." ^ 
The boar's head, likewise, how suggestive of good 
cheer! It at once takes one back to the great baronial 

1 "Le Gastronome Francais" (18-28). G. D. L. R., "De La Truffe." 

236 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

dining-halls, the Knights of the Round Table, and the 
feasts and wassails of eld. It suggests the joyous 
festivals of harvest-home and Yule, with the chief 
table on the dais and the tables for retainers and ser- 
vants, when the family and attendants assembled 
amid the blaze of the great hearth-fire and the music 
of the harpers and minstrels. 

Again, consider his lovely appetite, exquisite diges- 
tion, and imperturbable slumbers that many a million- 
aire would gladly part with half his riches to obtain. 
The papillae of his tongue are never furred by dys- 
pepsia, flatulence, gout, or the spleen. Proverbially 
on the best of terms with his stomach, he needs no 
podophyllin, bicarbonates, or Hunyadi. Sudden va- 
riations of temperature affect him not, while all lati- 
tudes are equally conducive to his longevity. Ennui 
is to him unknown, and life is never a burden, unless 
it be the trifling burden of the weight he carries. He 
sleeps and eats and digests, and in his own way solves 
the problem of content that is still unsolved by man. 

His blithesome Porkship! his graces steal into the 
heart insensibly if one be a minute philosopher. No 
cock-cro^^'ing or turkey-gobbling, no lowing of kine 
or bleating of flocks, no screaming of hawks or caw- 
ing of crows may vie as an expression of the rural 
landscape with his complacent grunt of satisfaction 
and "high-piping PcJilevr of triumph. A vibrant 
chord of melody when snouted and bristled disputants 
crowd and jostle around the trough or squeal and 
scramble within the pen, it yet requires a more potent 
mediumship to draw forth in its fullest measure the 
piercing treble of the porcine lyre. Rather let us hear 
237 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABEE 

it, arrectis auribus, rising sonorously along the high- 
way or drifting adown some reverberant lane, with 
the dog as the plectrum of the ham-strings. Thom- 
son, less gracious but more observant than Lamb, rec- 
ognised his accomplishments as a lyrist, and in a 
'Stanza in "The Castle of Indolence," a complement to 
the stanza cited from "The Faerie Queene," thus apos- 
trophises his power of song: 

"Ev'n so throuo-li Brentford town, a town of mud, 
An herd of bristly swine is pricked along ; 

The filthy beasts that never chew the cud 

Still grunt and squeak, and sing their troublous song, 
And oft they plunge themselves the mire among: 

But aye tlie ruthless driver goads them on, 
And aye of barking dogs the bitter throng 

Make them renew their unmclodious moan ; 

Ne ever find thej' rest from their unresting fone." 

Like Spenser, Thomson has grossly traduced him, 
except so far as his musical gifts are concerned, 
though in this respect he might have been more dis- 
criminating in the use of his adjectives. Why "trou- 
blous" and "unmelodious," in place of expressing his 
thrilling arpeggio of song? 

But it is for qualities more sterling than those of 
a vocal nature that the confrere of the cook deserves 
recognition. He has his trifling faults, to be sure — 
who is without them? He is obstinate in being driven 
to market, perhajis, knowing the fate which awaits 
him, and possibly his assurance may be someM'hat ob- 
noxious at public gatherings. It is admitted also that 
his savoir faire at table, while distinguished for 

238 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

aplomb, is not entirely without alloy. But although 
the ill-mannered among his tribe occasionally thrust 
their feet not under but upon the mahoganj^ and are 
sometimes guilty of elbowing one another at meal- 
time, yet it must be conceded that they are never late 
at their engagements to dine; neither do they ever 
commit that unpardonable breach of etiquette — eat- 
ing with a knife. It is a belle fourchette rather than 
a fine blade they ply. 

The late Horace Greeley, to repeat a well-known 
story, tells of a farmer who drove a herd, of York- 
shires to market, — 

"When meads with slime were sprent, and ways with mire," — 

the march proving so fatiguing to his charges that 
they shrank in flesh and had to be disposed of at 
a sacrifice on finally arriving at their destination. 
When asked on his return how much he had realised 
from the transaction, he replied he had made nothing 
out of his charges themselves — ''he had had the jileas- 
nre of their company, thought This point, through 
a singular oversight, — the idea is the same and equally 
charming everywhere, — Leigh Hunt has not touched 
upon in his essay "On the Graces and Anxieties of 
Pig-Driving." It may be of interest to those whose 
manuscripts have been rejected to know that Hunt's 
exquisite conceit was refused by the magazine to which 
it was addressed, but fortunately it was not on this 
account consigned to the waste-basket, but lives and 
is embalmed with Lamb's dissertation. 

"I could never understand to this day," writes 
239 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Hunt in his autobiography, "what it is that made the 
editor of a magazine reject an article which I wrote, 
with the mock-heroic title of 'The Graces and Anxie- 
ties of ^ig-Dri^ ing.' I used to think he found some- 
thing vulgar in the title. He declared it was not he 
who rejected it, but the proprietor of the magazine. 
The proprietor, on the other hand, declared that it 
was not he who rejected it, but the editor. I pub- 
lished it in a magazine of my own, 'The Companion,' 
and found it hailed as one of my best pieces of 
writing." 

This reference of Hunt's recalls a piquant ein- 
gramme of lamb that is not down in the cook-books. 
It was when the writer was taking his departure from 
an old Paris bookstall, a number of years ago, that, as 
he tiH'ned to leave, the proprietor remarked: 

"Monsieur perhaps might like to glance at an Eng- 
lish work, \wr VAgiwaii,' which came in with some 
other volumes recently." 

The volume in question referred, indeed, to "lamb," 
and proved to be the excessively rare first edition of 
"The Essays of Eha" (London, 1823). It was 
sliohtlv foxed, but otherwise in excellent condition, 
and contained some marginal annotations in manu- 
script. On carefully examining the handwriting, we 
became convinced it was that of Charles Lamb — there 
could be no possible doubt of it. The only writing 
on the fly-leaf was, "To W. W., from C.L."— the 
"W. W." presumably being William Wordsworth. 
In the volume, since attired by the binder as it de- 
serves, are several slight alterations in "The South Sea 
House," and some addenda to "Valentine's Day." 

240 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

But by far the most important annotation occurs in 
"A Dissertation on Roast Pig." It is apparent at a 
glance that this was a serious afterthought ere the vol- 
ume left the author's hands and the types confronted 
him with any lapses he had made — an apology, in 
fact, on the part of the author for whatever reference 
might be considered disparaging or in any wise incon- 
siderate as regards the worth of the elder animal. 
For, in consistency, a jewel that sparkles throughout 
the pages of "Elia," the parents might not be reviled 
without reflecting upon the children. Moreover, how- 
ever "mild and dulcet" a nursling pigling, roasted 
secundum artem, may be to those of educated tastes, 
it is a dish that cloys from its very mellifluence if re- 
peated too often, whereas in pork matured it is invari- 
al)ly a case of cut and come again. 

From the volume and chapter in question we tran- 
scribe the annotation, verhathn et literatim, where it 
follows, as a postscript, the concluding line, "he is a 
weakling — a flower": 

"Methinks my mind (animadverted by the infant pearl) 
hath been too evasive. There is he who, having slied the downy 
robes of childhood, is clad in the toga virilis of a glorious chief. 
Hast tliou ever on occasion savoured his matured nether ex- 
tremities, if haply thou wert blessed with an appetite and ap- 
preciation commensurate with their unctuous worth.'' Regard 
those feet — those parsley-garnished feet! See the peai'ly 
wliiteness of the ankles, the coral pink of the petitoes ! ]Me- 
seems a man might arise in the small hours of a winter morn- 
ing to savour such a dish. It sliould summon the shade of 
Lucullus. It should not only reconcile man to his lot, but it 
should render him thankful for it. Imagine the passion of a 

241 



. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

stricken youth (stricken by the pedal glories and fault- 
less poise of a Taglioni), and then note by comparison the 
exalted rapture which should be engendered by such feet as 
these ! 

"In wandering tlirough Covent Garden market, and pass- 
ing from floral dreams to the vegetables, I often pause before 
the peas. Do I yearn for tliem in their adolescence? do I asso- 
ciate them with the duckling and the lamb? Nay; I await a 
time wlien they shall have folded and creased within them- 
selves their perfected saccharine excellence, to be released in the 
kitchen of the winter. 

"I can see a pig — a pig of one hundred and eighty pounds 
— classical in all the tints of its marble freshness. It sheds its 
internal graces in an excellent and cleanly market. With deft 
execution the white-aproned purveyor removes a spare-rib 
from a side. Then in front of the site of the spare-rib there 
remains an area of unequalled promise — a tract of the most 
delightsome possibilities. Let a piece be cut about fourteen 
inches long and eight wide, wlien after it has hung two or 
three days, I counsel thee to submerge it in sweet pickle for a 
week. Then boil it with a quart of the garden peas, with a 
shred, a hint, a sigh of onion. Allow it to cool, and when freed 
of every vestige of vegetable matter, place it in a garnished 
dish. 

"No poem ever stirred the human heart, no slab of tessel- 
lated parvcment ever fired the archjcologist, with respectful in- 
terest akin to that evoked by this entrancing esculent. It is a 
fresh wave in the sea of sapors — an approximation, a convo- 
lution of two entities divinely transfused, wliicli to conceive, 
it must be tasted. It elevates the sense of taste to the highest 
pinnacle of human aspiration. It is a memory to inspire gen- 
tle thoughts and tranquillize the mind ; a presence that is a 
beatitude, and that looms in the visions of the future as a 
thing to live for." 

212 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

Less secretive than communicative in most of his 
ways, the hog is nevertheless an enigma as regards his 
natural term of life. Not that for a moment his na- 
tive modesty forbids his announcing his age, or that 
his lease of life equals that of Epimenides, but that, 
owing to circumstances over which he has no control, 
— the greed and voracity of man, — he is handicapped 
from proclaiming tlie full extent of his longevity. 
"The natural age of a hog's life is little known," ob- 
serves the learned Hampshire rector-naturalist; "and 
the reason is plain — because it is neither profitable nor 
convenient to keep that turbulent animal to the full 
extent of its time." The man were a dolt who would 
take exceptions to White's natural-history observa- 
tions, so lucidly and delightfully set forth in the pages 
of "Selborne." And yet, so great was his sympathy 
for all animals and dumb creatures, may not the term 
"turbulent" have been possibly a slip of the pen or 
fault of the types for "buoyant" or "complacent," 
with no malice prepense, as in the case of Spenser and 
the generalit}^ of the poets? 

His bonhomie and engaging nature are seldom con- 
sidered, unless by a few humanitarians or interested 
trainers of animals. Yet what possibilities does he 
not present as a companion to man, were man not so 
eager for his slaughter, and were he to receive the 
same encouragements as the cat and the dog! A case 
is cited by Fraud Buckland of a hog at Guildford tliat 
followed its master daily on his walks, and whose in- 
stinct, agility, and affection could be equalled only 
by the canine species. Hamerton also mentions a 
wild boar in France which became domesticated and 
243 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

regularly accompanied liis master to the village 
church and would not be excluded, but came at last, 
by the toleration of the cure, to hear mass like a Chris- 
tian, till finallj^ he grew to an alarming size and was 
sold to a travelling menagerie. The liog has been 
known in numerous instances to set and retrieve vari- 
ous kinds of game with an intelligence equal to that of 
tlie most blue-blooded pointer or setter, and even to ex- 
ceed the canine species in acuteness of scent and 
staunchness. A wager was once made in England 
that with a hog trained on game the owner could kill 
more grouse on the moors than either of his two com- 
petitors witli their dogs, the result being considerably 
in favour of the challenging party. 

"If the pig had wings and could soar above the 
hedges," says an appreciative writer in the old Ger- 
man "Kreuterbuch," "he would be regarded as the 
best and most magnificent of fowls!" Is he not, more- 
over, with his boon companion the domestic goose 
(likewise a douceur of the table when served with 
apple-sauce), one of the most reliable of weather 
prophets, becoming restless and uttering loud cries at 
the approach of a storm? 

In any event, whatever deprivation the non-devel- 
opment of his social qualities may have occasioned, he 
still shines supreme as a utilitarian, a stimulus to gas- 
tronomy, and a promoter of the polite arts. Some 
there are, perchance, who have cursorily regarded the 
obligations we owe him as a purveyor of our comforts 
so far as relates to the hair-brushes, tooth-brushes, 
and nail-brushes he has kindly provided. The sad- 
dler and trunk-maker no doubt appreciate him after 

2U 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

a fashion, as did the conscientious bookbinder of old, 
with whom he figured indirectly as a confrere in belles- 
lettres. But who among the recipients of his many 
bounties has paused to consider the inestimable influ- 
ence he has exercised upon one of the greatest of the 
romantic or fine arts, without which the most cele- 
brated canvases of the world had never existed, and 
the art of painting, if not utterly abandoned, must 
languish of necessity for lack of his bristles to lay 
on the pigments? For, with the exception of the 
minute brushes made from the soft fur of the red 
sable for detail work, he contributes, if not the artist's 
genius itself, at least the chief vehicle with which it 
is possible to render it enduring. 

One by one he has felt the pictures of Raphael, 
Titian, Correggio, and Guido pulsate beneath the ar- 
tist's brush; while later, in another land, he was in- 
strumental in fixing the harmonies of Velasquez's and 
Murillo's marvellous colouring. He has witnessed the 
growing fame of Turner and survej^ed the miles of 
glowing flesh that Rubens has painted. With Wat- 
teau and Boucher, he has gazed on many a fair shep- 
herdess and pastoral scene, and, with Jacque and 
Mauve, helped the shepherd drive his fleecy flock. 
He has basked in the sunny atmosphere of Cuyp, 
Wynants, and Van der Neer, and watched the radiant 
face of woman assume a heightened charm through 
the genius of Lely and Reynolds. He has viewed tlie 
frail beauties of the harem with Gerome, and marked 
the roseate twilight deepen over Venice with Ziem. 
A silent spectator of the great pageant of Art, he 
has beheld Le Brun and Vernet depict the carnage 
245 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

of the battle-field, and Poussin, Claude, and Con- 
stable open enchanting vistas of landscape. Contem- 
plating the progress of modern art, he sees Diaz and 
Daubigny, Bouguereau and ISIeissonier, Vibert and 
Verestchagin, Corot and Inness, and how many 
otliers! seated upon the throne of undying fame and 
wielding the sceptre which he himself has supplied. 

His illustrious Bristleousness! Were it not for 
man's ingratitude and his overpowering worth upon 
the shambles, he would long since have been canonised 
and figure as the joint symbol of the useful and the 
romantic arts. 

Consider him likewise in his ferine state as most 
closely related to nature, moving majestically through 
the fastnesses of his native stronghold, toothed and 
tushed for war, indigenous and mighty as the oaks 
which yield him their mast or the trees of the jungles 
through which he treads. "The jungle path is his as 
much as the tiger's," writes the Indian sportsman and 
naturalist, Shakespeare; "the native shikarries affirm 
that the wild boar will quench his thirst at the river 
})etween two tigers, and I believe this to be strictly 
the truth. The tiger and the boar have been heard 
fighting in the jungle at night, and both have been 
found dead alongside of one another in the morning." 
It was a wild boar that slew Adonis ; and by none, not 
e\'en by Barye, has the animal been more vividly de- 
picted than by Shakespeare in the warning of ^^enus : 

" 'Thou hadst been gone,' quotli she, 'sweet boy, ere this 
But tluit thou told'st nie thou wouldst liunt the hoar. 
O he a(h'ised ! thou know'st not what it is 

With javelin's point a churlish swine to gore, 

246 



THE COOK'S CONFRERE 

Whose tushes, never slicathed, he whetteth still, 
Like to a mortal butcher, bent to kill. 

" 'On his bow-back he hath a battle set 

Of bristly pikes, that ever threat his foes ; 
His eyes, like glow-worms, shine when he doth fret. 

His snout digs sepulchres where'er he goes ; 
Being moved he strikes whate'er is in his way, 
And whom he strikes his cruel tushes slay. 

" 'His brawny sides, with hairy bristles arm'd. 

Are better proof than thy spear's point can enter; 
His short thick neck cannot be easily harm'd ; 

Being ireful, on the lion he will venture: 
The thorny brambles and embracing bushes. 
As fearful of him, part ; through whom he rushes.' " 

As for his domesticated brother, to come back to 
our cochous, let him be aspersed as he may — we have 
seen the manifold benefits he has procured for us and 
the plane he rightly occupies in the evolution of man- 
kind. Without him the kitchen were well-nigh im- 
practicable, and, deprived of his services, gastronomy 
were an obsolete word. 




247 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

"The finest landscape in the world is improved by a good inn in the foreground." 

Samuel Johnson. 

STRICTLY speaking, there exists as yet no gen- 
eral high-class English or American cuisine, be- 
yond the natural alimentary resources of these coun- 
tries, supplemented by the efforts of foreign cooks. 
There are certain native dishes of merit in England, 
to be sure, and there is a so-termed Southern and 
Eastern kitchen in the United States where not a few 
dishes are admirably prepared. But the art of bak- 
ing bread and of pastry-making, as well as that of 
frying, is, alas ! lacking to a great extent in both coun- 
tries, while the entree is still largely an uncertain 
quantity with the housewife. There is a lack, like- 
wise, both in England and in America, of a proper 

24-8 




2i Vi 






AIMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

understanding of sauces, and this is the more to be re- 
gretted on the score of their appetising quahties, the 
variety they impart to the flavour of viands, and, 
where the properties of the numerous seasonings and 
condiments are thoroughly understood, the beneficent 
effect they lend to digestion. 

It were misleading, however, to decry the old-fash- 
ioned American home kitchen. Smile as ye may, ye 
devotees of the Gallic art, the New World has its 
dishes that are not to be despised. What fonts of 
delectation well not forth from the apple-, the mince-, 
and the pumpkin-pie! And what caressing sapors 
linger not in the buckwheat cake and nectar of the 
maple grove, the corn and the sweet-potato "pone," 
the corned beef and cabbage, and even the corn-on- 
the-cob itself, if of the "Country Gentleman" or 
"Stowell's Evergreen" variety! The planked shad, 
the clam chowder, the terrapin a la JNIaryland, the 
plebeian pork and beans, and the more recent pate of 
oyster-crabs and lobster a la Newburgh siu'cly need 
no one to sound their praises. The FuUgula vallis- 
neria of the Chesapeake occupies so exalted a plane 
that it is sufficient to lift one's hat at the mere thouarht 
of him; and then reflect how admirably the ruffed 
grouse, the prairie-chicken, or a celery-fed redhead 
may supply his place when occasion requires. And 
has not America contributed the potato, the tomato, 
and tobacco, and taught the world how to cross a con- 
tinent in a dining-car! That the English are jealous 
of American products cannot be doubted when one 
remembers the remark of Sydney Smith, who was 
asked by one of his friends why he did not visit Amer- 
249 



THE PLExVSURES OF THE TABLE 

ica. "I fully intended going/' was his reply, "hut 
my parishioners held a meeting and came to a reso- 
lution that they could not trust me with the canvas- 
hack ducks; and I felt they were right, so I gave up 
the project." 

No better cookery, independent of any special 
school, is to be met with than that of the superior res- 
taurants and hotels of the American metropolis and 
numerous clubs within and without its confines. The 
cookery of the capital of the United States, as it ex- 
ists in many of the better restaurants and in private 
houses where Southern dishes are .especially well pre- 
pared, is deservedly celebrated. The New Orleans 
kitchen has also its ardent admirers; but outside of 
New York the restaurants of San Francisco are per- 
haps the most famous and cosmopolitan. Receptive 
and creative, America has learned from all, and added 
to acquired knowledge the results of her own inven- 
tive genius. The era of fried steak, saleratus biscuits, 
and "apple floating-island" has happily long since 
passed, and already in many instances an American 
dinner has come to be recognised as among the very 
best it is possible to obtain. A well-prepared Cha- 
teaubriand is no longer confined to the Cafe Riche, 
or a bisque d'ecrevisses to Voisin or to Laperouse. In 
none of the useful arts has progress been more marked 
in this country during the past decade. Even in re- 
mote New England villages a leg or a saddle of mut- 
ton is rarely sent to table with all its juices and ex- 
cellences dissipated, as one commonly finds it on the 
tables volautes of tlie prominent English restaurants. 
And for the omnipresent "greens" of Great Britain 

250 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

in winter — the Brussels sprout, distended to thrice its 
size and deprived of all its pristine delicacy by cross- 
ing it with the cabbage — there are with us countless 
vegetables to choose from. 

Luxuriant diversity, in fact, is a marked character- 
istic of American cookery, whatever faults may be 
found with its methods as frequently practised. Yet, 
the too lavish midtiplicity of dishes, usually at the 
expense of quality, which has characterised the break- 
fast and dinner of the average hostelry conducted on 
a fixed charge is disappearing, and hotels on the Euro- 
pean plan are becoming more in request yearly. The 
cooking-school, likewise, is rapidly contributing its 
share towards the evolution of eating, wherein whole- 
someness and variety are projjerly regarded as a 
means of health, enjoyment, and longevity. 

The luxuries of a few years ago have become ne- 
cessities now; and one notes on every hand the better 
physical development produced by improved alimen- 
tation and an increased understanding of the laws of 
hygiene. No nation possesses so wide a field for ad- 
ministering to its most minute w^ants at all seasons and 
under all conditions. The woods, the waters, and the 
plains vie with one another in their contributions to the 
table. If we have not the truffle, we have the mush- 
room. If we are A^^ithout the turbot and sole, we have 
the whitefish, the shad, the flounder, the bluefish, the 
weakfish, the striped-bass, the frost-fish and pompano 
— the choice from ice-cold to tropical waters, the 
i-ange from the Atlantic to the Pacific — with oysters 
unequalled in delicacy and chea])ness; while we not 
only grow vegetables in profusion, but in infinite va- 
251 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

riety and of superlative excellence. AVhen one thinks 
of the oysters, with their rank, tinny, fishy flavour and 
their higli admission fee, that do duty in England and 
on the Continent alike, one may trebly appreciate the 
delicate Blue Point, the Narragansett, Glen Cove, 
INlillpond, Lynn Haven, Cherrystone, Rockaway, 
Shrewsbury, and the many other tributes of the "deep 
sea" wherein the very essence of the ocean seems con- 
centrated. Of wholesome fruits the supply and kinds 
are boundless, while animal food in nearly all its 
forms is nowhere found in greater perfection. Nor 
is furred and feathered game lacking to minister to 
the wants of the invalid and shed its graces on the 
board of the epicure. The poor may have their ice as 
well as the rich ; and with her vast granaries America 
can provision the globe with the staff of life. Her 
territory is vmlimited and its fertility unsurpassed. 
He who wills may possess his plot of garden ground, 
and, like JNIarvell, reckon the lapse of time by the 
ripening of his fruits and the blossoming of his flow- 
ers. In time, perchance, an American judge may rise 
to emphasise the sentiment of Henrion de Pensey, 
the French magistrate, who thus expressed himself to 
three of the most distinguished scientists of their day : 
"I consider the discovery of a dish which sustains our 
appetite and prolongs our pleasures as a far more in- 
teresting event than the discovery of a star, for we 
have always stars enough; and I shall not regard the 
sciences as sufficiently honoured or adequately repre- 
sented amongst us until I see a cook in the first class 
of the Institute." 

Such a benefactor was the Vice-President of the 

252 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

United States, General John C. Breckinridge, the 
story of his discovery having been thus related at a 
recent dinner at Chamberlin's, in Washington, by one 
of a coterie of men who were in their political and 
social prime in the early sixties. The month was 
INIarch, and at nearly every table planked shad was 
being served. "I wonder," said the raconteur, as he 
held up his glass of Forster-Jesuiten-Garten to the 
light and savoured its adorable bouquet, "if any of 
these j^eople who are smacking their lips over that 
delicious dish know that they are indebted for it to 
General John C. Breckinridge. It was from him 
that the people of this part of the country gained their 
knowledge of how to plank shad, and from here it 
has spread out to every place where shad can be ob- 
tained. 

"It was Breckinridge's custom, beginning with the 
first warm Sunday in April and continuing till the 
middle of June, to drive slowly along the picturesque 
road that skirts the north bank of the Chesapeake and 
Ohio Canal until he reached the Guard Locks, fifteen 
miles up, at the Great Falls of the Potomac. In the 
buff -bodied carryall would be stowed away a two- 
gallon demijohn of Kentucky's best, lemons, sugar, 
mint, a large cheese, and pounds of soda-crackers. 
Besides tlie negro driver lie would at times have a 
friend along, most frequently that only social inti- 
mate of President Buchanan, 'Gentleman Bob' JNIa- 
graw. 

"When Breckinridge reached the falls he would 
walk into the little house which served the double 
duty of keeper's home and public inn, shake hands 
253 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

with everybody, ha\e u word of pleasant banter with 
the landlady, hand her a five-dollar gold piece by way 
of compensation for the diversion of business from 
her protected to his free-trade entertainment, and 
then map out the day's enjoyment. 

"The farmers and farm-hands for miles around 
could be relied upon to be on hand to catch the fish. 
The shad could not ascend the river bej^ond this point, 
and the water was fairly alive with them. Fifty or 
more would be taken in a short time. While this work 
was going on, Breckinridge, who never fished, would 
throw himself upon the grassy bank of the canal and 
listen to the playing of the violin by one or the other 
of two brothers named West, who were possessed of 
wonderful skill with the bow, the negro field-hands 
often joining in a dance. At noon the shad would be 
properly planked, under the personal supervision of 
Breckinridge, and put before a red-hot fire, and in a 
few minutes the royal feast would begin, right where 
they were cooked, the landlady supplying plates, 
knives, and forks. When the appetite was satisfied, 
another season of lounging -svould follow, when one 
of the two brothers would resume his playing on the 
violin. As the sun got low in the heavens, Breckin- 
ridge would start back to town, after telling them all 
to come around the next Sunday. The love of these 
country people for Breckinridge knew no bounds; 
they worshipped him, and he was thoughtful of them. 

"Well, John C. Breckinridge was, as you all know, 
a candidate of the Southern wing of the Democratic 
party for the Presidency in 1860. We remember the 
result of that gigantic struggle. The section where 

254i 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

those pleasant Sundays were spent in another year 
became a battle-ground, and the placid fishers scat- 
tered far and wide. A new generation has sprung 
up and another war been fought, and the name of 
Breckinridge is forgotten in that region; but the art 
of planking shad as taught by him not only lives but 
spreads abroad each year." 

Thus, at least, runs the storj^ But it has also been 
stated that the art of planking should be credited to 
the Swedes, who are said to have brought the fish- 
plank with them among their household effects, when, 
in 1634, they settled on the banks of the Delaware, a 
river famous for its Avild duck and shad. The plank- 
ing of fish has equally been attributed to the American 
aborigines, who subsisted to a great extent on the 
spoils of the woods and waters. The shad itself, at 
any rate, is an indigenous product ; and there are those 
who maintain that it is not improved by planking, but 
is best when simpl}^ broiled to a turn over the charcoal, 
with parsley and butter sauce and a filet of lemon. 

Yet a hundredfold more important than the shad 
and his left-bower, the cucumber, is the vegetable 
that may be placed almost side by side with bread in 
the value it contributes to the sustenance of mankind 
— the potato, which the world owes to the western 
hemis])here, and whose introduction produced so great 
an economical revolution among the peoples of tlie 
earth. And were the potato itself lacking, the ^Ipios 
tuberosa, or ground-nut, with its violet-scented blos- 
soms — a tuber in use by the aborigines — would stand 
ready as a substitute, and yield innumerable varieties 
under cultivation. Although the early history of tlie 
255 



IIIE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

potato is obscure and has been the subject of much 
discussion, the great botanist De Candolle states that 
its true home is Chih, where it grows wild; that before 
the (hscovery of America its cultivation was diffused 
from Chili to New Grenada; that it was introduced 
about the latter part of the sixteenth century into 
Virginia and North Carolina, and, finally, was im- 
ported into Europe between 1580 and 1585, first by 
the Spaniards and afterwards by the English at 
the time of Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages to Vir- 
ginia. The first potato was planted on Sir Walter's 
estate in Cork, and employed for food in Ireland 
many years before it became familiar to England, the 
esculent still remaining the truffle of the Emerald Isle. 
Gerarde, long before the I^yonnaise or pomme soufflee 
was dreamed of, defines two varieties — the Sisanmi 
Peruvianum, or skirret, of Peru, and the Baftata Vir- 
gimaua, or Virginian potato. In his "Great Herbal" 
the (qualities of the "battata" are thus set forth: 
"The temperature and virtues be referred to the com- 
mon Potatoes, being likewise a food, as also a meate 
for pleasure, equall in goodnesse and wholesomenesse 
imto the same, being either toasted in the embers, or 
boyled and eaten with oyle, vinegar and pepper, or 
dressed in any other way by the hand of some cunning 
in cookerie." The origin of the sweet potato is more 
doubtful, a number of authorities holding to its 
American and others to its Asiatic origin, though Bra- 
zil is usually credited as being the land of its genesis. 
During the old colony days of the eighteenth cen- 
tury catfish and waffle suppers were in great repute 
in the taverns on the picturesque Schuylkill near 

256 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

Philadelphia, these being still popular, though 
planked shad is more commonly called for. The tur- 
tle was a great favourite with our epicurean fore- 
fathers, who were accustomed frequently to hold tur- 
tle feasts or, as they were then termed, turtle frolics. 
Returning sea captains from the West Indies were 
expected to bring home a turtle for this purpose, to- 
gether with a keg of limes, lime-juice being considered 
the best of all tart accompaniments for the punch- 
bowl. Of these feasts, with their accessories, a travel- 
ling clergyman named Burnaby gave this account 
in 1759: 

"Thei'e are several taverns pleasantly situated upon East 
River, near New York, where it is common to have these turtle 
feasts. These happen once or twice a week. Thirty or forty 
gentlemen and ladies meet and dine together, drink tea in the 
afternoon, fish, and anuise themselves till evening, and then 
return home in Italian chaises, a gentleman and lady in each 
chaise. On the way there is a bridge, about three miles distant 
from New York, which you always pass over as you return, 
called the Kissing Bridge, where it is part of the etiquette to 
salute the lady wlio has put herself under your protection." 

No wonder that, with such delightful privileges, 
the days of our roystering greater-grandfathers were 
referred to as "the good old colony times." 

It has been properly held that austerity of diet, 
though not always productive of austere morals, in- 
variably leads to an acerbity of temperament inimical 
to social and artistic development, that poor food is a 
begetter of dyspepsia, and that in dyspepsia lurks 
crime. A well-nourished nation becomes a progres- 
257 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

sive nation, and poor nourishment results in intem- 
perance and maleficence. The mobile human face, 
first to show the effects of the emotions and the pas- 
sions by its lines, is no less indicative of meagre or 
improper alimentation. "Both in mind and body, 
where nourishment ceases vitality fails," and hence a 
perfect cuisine must prove the best of doctors if sup- 
plemented by the adage, "Know thj'self, obtain a suf- 
ficiency of sleep, and exercise abundantly in the outer 
air." As to the ideal cuisine, this may be briefly de- 
fined as that which supplies an abundant varietj'^ of the 
best procurable material prepared in the most whole- 
some manner, in distinction to innumerable mixed and 
liighly spiced viands, which assuredly have their place, 
but which require to be employed with precaution. 
The merit of the best American cookery consists in its 
comparative simplicity. 

Writing in 1852, Count d'Orsay complained that 
even then the culinary art had greatly deteriorated in 
Paris, and had been transferred to England. At the 
time referred to, the Freres Provenc^eaux, Philippe, 
and the Cafe de Paris were the most famous restau- 
rants at the French capital,Very,Vefour, and the Cafe 
Anglais having declined in favour. His remarks con- 
cerning England applied of course to the nobility, 
who could outbid the titled classes of France, as to- 
day America in its tin'n is enabled to command the 
greatest culinary skill. A similar complaint was made 
by Nestor Roqueplan in 1866 in "Le Double Al- 
manach Gourmand" : 

"The French cuisine has lost nuuli of its originality and 
special characteristics. We no longer find places devoted to 

258 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

the Flemish kitchen, others to the Normandy, Lyonnaise, Tou- 
lousian, Bordelaise, and Proven9ale kitchens. But France 
nevertheless is still the country where eating is found at its 
best." 

That French cookery, or,, to speak more correctly, 
Parisian cookery, has deteriorated of recent years there 
would seem to be abundant evidence. Or is it that 
such retrogression is owing to the advances in other 
countries, and that the Parisian cuisine suffers more 
from such comparison than from any real falling off 
in merit? Certain it is that the alien who is capable 
of judging will charge it with having become too rich 
and highly spiced, if not too careless. There are those 
who go so far as to say that its future will lie chiefly 
in the speech of the menu, that none of the strange 
spellings of "rosbif" will change the nature of the 
viand, the same remark applying to the cut which is 
called a "biftek" everywhere save in the land of its 
origin and in the United States. The fact is that the 
French, in inany arts, unjustly claim a taste so su- 
])erlative as to be unattainable by other nations, and 
that French cookery has been tacitly accepted as un- 
paralleled on the same principle that a titled person- 
age is supposed to possess superior accomplishments. 
Yet French must necessarily remain for all time the 
classic language of the bill of fare. 

Still, tlie preparation of food continues to be better 
understood by the average practitioner in France than 
in any other country. For, as in angling it is "not 
so much the fly as the hand directing it that secures 
the trout," so in cookery it is less the recipe than the 
259 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

fine perceptivity of the artist that achieves the per- 
fect dish. So far as America is concerned, it is less 
the want of capable chefs than the scarcity of good 
female cooks that is to be deplored. A competent 
cuisiniere is becoming more and more uncommon, and 
by the average servant cooking is too often consid- 
ered a mere function to be performed with as little 
trouble and as much despatch as possible. Besides the 
lack of proper training, crass ignorance is too fre- 
quently a factor which the housewife has to contend 
with in those who profess to have a perfect under- 
standing of the art of the kitchen. 

A new cook had come, and there were to be smelts 
with a tartare sauce to follow the soup. 

"Can you make a good tartare sauce?" asked the 
mistress; "if not, I can show you." 

"Oh, yes; I 've often made one." 

In due time the fish, shorn of heads and tails and 
flanked by a very yellow sauce with a strange taste, 
made their appearance, and were promptly returned 
to the kitchen. 

"Surely, you don't call this a tartare sauce, which 
is alwaj^s cold. Besides, where are the chopped pickle, 
the onion, the capers, the parsley? And what gives it 
such a queer taste?" 

"But this is a hot tartar sauce, mum; I asked for 
the 'tartar,' and the maid gave it to me; I supposed 
you wanted a cream-of -tartar sauce." 

The corrective for such a state of things is difficult 
to prescribe, unless it be a better understanding on 
the part of the housewife and the establishment of 
cooking-classes in all female schools. Another rem- 

260 



Gonvivai familiarfi convoca. i 5 
Invite les plus famihcrs a Banqueter. 




Du Cochon Roti^ 
vive la Peau , 
etant chaud. 

Principibus fervire & Populo* 
11 fert aux Princes 8c au People, 




LE JAMBON 
de Pourceau 

bien Mayence, eft bon a Manger > 
non pas fans boire. 

Cij 



"ROTl-COCHON" 
Facsimile pafxo from volume, 1696 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

edy might be to imitate the French of two hundred 
years ago, and provide an entertaining illustrated 
text-book for children, artfully designed to foster a 
love of gastronomy. Thus, in a work of this nature 
entitled "Roast Pig," the text is freely interlarded 
with appetising pictures of viands and table scenes, 
accompanied by such maxims as these: "A well-minced 
ham is fine eating, but not without something to 
drink"; "pate of venison and craquelins are not in- 
tended for naughty children"; "damask prunes are 
delicious to eat for those who deserve them"; "venison 
is better in a pate than with any sauces, if it is well 
seasoned and accompanied with wine." ^ 

The excellence of the inorale of a work of this na- 
ture cannot fail to impress itself on those of mature 
years whose incentive to learning in youth was more 
often the ruler and the rod than sugar-plums and wine. 
But while the advantages of such a method for mould- 
ing the youthful taste are to be extolled, it jjresents 
the objection that much valuable time must elapse be- 
fore the results would become tangible, and hence its 
benefits would accrue too late save for the younger 
generation and its successors. 

It were well, withal, in furtherance of the advance 
of the art, if a society were formed for the suppression 
of the filet, the consomme with whip])ed cream, and 
also the sweetbread in its usual form, which are so 
frequently employed in "company" dinners, the bill 

1 " Roti-Cochon ou Methode Tres- de leurs connoissances; tres utile et 

Facile pour bien apprendre les En- meme necessaire, tant pour la vie & 

lants a Lire en Latin et en Franeais, le salut, que pour la gloirc de Dieu. 

par des Inscriptions nioralement ex- A Dijon, chez Claude Michard, Im- 

pliqu^es de plusieurs Representa- primeur & Marchand LibraireaSaint 

tions figurees de difFerentes choses Jean TEvangeliste." 

261 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

of fare of which is left by the housewife to the cook 
or the purveyor who is engaged for the day. In such 
cases the guest often needs no menu to know wluit is 
forthcoming — the lukewarm Blue Points, the flavour- 
less broth, the overdone halibut, the tasteless tender- 
loin and green peas, and the half -mixed salad deluged 
with tarragon vinegar. As for the wines, one may be 
reasonably sure of a woody-tasting sherry, a sour and 
watery "claret," and a still more asperous brut cham- 
pagne that is doled out, when appetite has waned, to 
chill the dessert and render the sweets the more indi- 
gestible. Not that this menu is the general rule by 
any means in the LTnited States, but it is of far too 
frequent occurrence, and should be placed under ban 
— a charge that concerns the host and hostess alike. 
For whatever difficulty the mistress may experience 
in procuring trained culinary skill, a simple bill of 
fare, daintily served, is always at her command ; while 
there can be no excuse on the part of the master for 
presenting a sharp brut champagne at the end of the 
repast, if indeed it be presented at all; and as for a 
reputable Bordeaux, if such be not in his cellar, it is 
or should be obtainable at his club. Where cham- 
]3agne is permitted to diffuse its sunshine, it goes with- 
out saying it should be of irreproachable quality and 
dealt out with a liberal hand. To stint in Ay or Sillery 
is as unpardonable as to ice one's Biu'gundy. The 
host should watch the various brands attentively from 
year to year, noting their improvement or deteriora- 
tion, judging them by their quality only, and choos- 
ing them irrespective of their vogue or the plaudits of 
those who may not be capable of judging. 

262 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

The introducer of the dry flint cracker in place of 
fresh bread to go with the cheese, though never defi- 
nitely ascertained, is said to have been a dentist who 
in this wise succeeded in obtaining many wealthy pa- 
tients. A person who is guilty of ofl'ering hardtack 
to his friends may be expected to pour a mayonnaise 
dressing over his cucumbers and beat up his lettuce 
and tomatoes in a salad. To serve cheese with the 
salad is a syncretism, besides being a great injustice 
to the roast to which the salad rightly appertains. 
The absence of butter which is often noticeable at for- 
mal repasts has no rauon d'etre. It is wanted at most 
dinners, particularly for corn, baked potatoes, etc., 
and is always needed for bread; its non-employment 
in Europe is only a consequent of economical custom. 
A vice it were seemingly useless to protest against, 
so universal is the practice, is the serving of raw fruit 
after a hearty dinner. As long as courses are pre- 
sented in a tempting way, so long will the unthinking 
majority continue to taste them, even if it be fruit, 
— "gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at 
night,"^ — after the final sweets. The only one who has 
exclaimed against this custom, to the writer's know- 
ledge, is the Ettrick Shepherd in the "Noctes": "As 
for f rute after f ude, it 's a downricht abomination, and 
coagulates on the stomach like soiu' cruds." 

Nor may the wineless dinner be passed unnoticed, 
at which unfortunate guests sometimes find them- 
selves unwittingly present with no means of escape. 
To those who are unaccustomed to their glass of claret 
or other vinous beverage at home its exclusion may 
not materially signify, though at a protracted repast 
263 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

there are not a few among such who find it a great 
aid to digestion. In the case of those who are habitu- 
ated to it its absence becomes of serious moment, much 
the same as if a meal were deprived of salt or the post- 
prandial cigar were proscribed. In vain may the un- 
fortunate guest attempt to philosophise on the virtues 
of abnegation as he contemplates liis glass where the 
gold gleams without, instead of sparkling from 
within, and he mournfully recalls the couplet of JNIon- 
selet and the dinners that are past: 

"Sauternes, Haut-Brions, Latour, Margaux, Lafittcs, 
Grands crus do la Gironde, ah ! quel bien vous me fitcs !" 

(Sauternes, Latour, Margaux, Lafitte, and O'Bryan, 
Grand growths of Gironde, let us make haste to tr^' 'em!) 

The least that the dinner-giver could do who ma^^ 
be intent on restricting the product of the vine, out 
of respect for those whose happiness it befits him to 
consider, — aye, for which he is directly responsible 
during the entire period they remain under his roof, — 
would be to apprise his guests on their invitation cards 
that his filet was to be accompanied by water. Then 
any possible uncertainty would at once become a cer- 
tainty, and no one need be ensnared. Otherwise his 
dinner nuist border too closely on the very question- 
able form of entertainment tendered by the fox to 
the stork. "Let no man," says an old writer in 
"Blackwood's," "who has been so unfortunate as to be 
accustomed to drink water be afraid all at once to 
begin to drink wine. Let him without fear or trem- 
bling boldly fill a bumper to his most gracious maj- 

264. 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

esty the king — then the Duke of Clarence and the 
navy — then WeUington and the army. These three 
bumpers will have made him a new man." 

The fact that the host may not be a wine-drinker 
himself is no reason why he should select a dinner- 
party as the field for enforcing his views on hydrop- 
athy. And if from sentiment or through physical 
reasons he prefer water, no one assuredly will ques- 
tion his right to abstain from vinous beverages. 
There was an old gentleman, it is related, who was 
fond of entertaining his friends, and who gave them 
wine of the very best. He himself would drink with 
them, but only from a particular decanter which was 
placed before him. An inquisitive neighbour at his 
table contrived to help himself from the same bottle, 
and discovered that, under a colourable imitation of 
sherry, his host was drinking cold tea. He was a total 
abstainer from principle, but he was too courteous a 
gentleman to flaunt his conviction in the face of his 
guests or to reflect upon the weakness of his friends 
by confessing himself superior to them. 

Above all things, an invitation to dine should con- 
vey on its face the spirit of a refined, broad-minded 
hospitality and an assurance of perfect creature com- 
forts, embodying in tlie fullest measure the sentiment 
expressed by Chjitillon-Plessis, '\SV migncr en huvnnt 
(Vcwcellcnts vins ct en mangeant cVe.veellents mets, 
voila la bonne, la vraie medieation!" (To care for 
one's self by drinking excellent wines and by eating 
excellent dishes, — this is tlie proper, the true medi- 
cation.) In all instances where the entertainer may 
be opposed to serving wine, it were better to dispense 
265 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

with the dinner and substitute a tea or a reading in its 
stead. A wineless dinner is justifiable only where 
every guest is a professed teetotaler and has become 
inured to Oolong and sparkling waters. 

An editorial in the London "Spectator" deals sum- 
marily with such alleged entertainers, terming them 
"would-be hosts." 

"What !" [exclaims the writer] "shall a man be invited to 
a feast? shall he don his white tie with care and take his way 
through the inclement weather to his friend's home, deter- 
mined, though weary and jaded witli liis daily toil, to shine 
at his best, and repay with tlie blithest company his friend's 
entertainment? and shall he be offered lemonade to drink? It 
is enough to curdle tlic milk of human kindness in liis breast 
forever. Or iced water? Why, it would throw a chill upon 
the warmest good will, and freeze the speech even upon the 
lips of a lover. The man is neither a wine-bibber nor a sot. 
But he is accustomed to drink his glass of wine, even as he is 
accustomed to eat his dinner, and one is as necessary to him 
as the other. Well, we do not imagine that he dines with him 
twice." 

The Sunday two- or three-o'clock dinner is a bar- 
barism which calls loudly for supj^ression — a custom 
that has no justifiable motive, inasmuch as the only 
pretence for its existence is of questionable benefit to 
the servants, who are obliged to share equally the pen- 
alty visited upon every one by whom it is tolerated. 
As well establish a weeklj'^ custom of a Saturday ban- 
quet at midnight in order to allow the cook a fidl 
afternoon for visiting. For what are the inevitable 
results? Accustomed to the dinner in the evening and 
the luncheon at noon, for which the machinery of di- 

266 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

gestion is set in perfect accord, the stomach is called 
upon to fast on the day devoted to rest until long after 
the period for the performance of its regular offices — 
to be surfeited with excessive ingestion at a time when 
appetite is ravenous and the secretory organs are un- 
able to perform their customary functions. Gluttony 
and subsequent lethargy are a necessary consequent, 
followed by a disturbed state of the digestion perhaps 
for daj^s afterwards. The pathological deduction of 
irregular eating is a simple one. The stomach, having 
supplied its secretions at the accustomed time, waits 
but a brief period before it allows such secretions to 
be absorbed when deprived of the aliments that aid 
in the production of fresh supplies. After a few such 
experiences the secretions diminish in amount and in 
activity, even when food is introduced in the digestive 
tract, and stomachic disturbance is an inevitable se- 
quence. It will thus be manifest that the Sunday-af- 
ternoon dinner and late Sunday supper become the 
greatest of all invitations to gastric disorders, and that 
the master and mistress of the well-regulated house- 
hold should firmly resent this almost universal impo- 
sition. No one knows better than the physician the 
serious ailments caused by Sunday engorgement and 
irregular eating. And yet no one in this respect re- 
mains more passive to his own welfare or that of his 
patients. 

The seven-o'clock theatre dinner, while less obnox- 
ious than the Sunday evil, is nevertheless a positive 
discomfort and a direct incentive to flatulence and 
dyspepsia. It sliould likewise receive the stigma of 
public disapproval, and either be entirelj^ abolished, 
267 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

out of comfort both to hosts and guests, or set at a 
sufficiently early hour to ensure their well-being and 
tliat of the audience it invariably disturbs. In any 
event, a formal repast of this nature can scarcely be 
l)artaken of with a sense of comfort, and it were better 
for all concerned if a supper after the performance 
were substituted. 

To be regretted also is the growing tendency of 
adjourning the evening dinner-hour. Six o'clock, the 
hygienist will maintain, is the latest period in the day 
at which tliose who set a proper value on their health 
should begin to dine. It will be claimed, notwith- 
standing, by many who may be directly concerned, 
that this is too early for invited guests to assemble at 
table — that the toiler in the business mart may not al- 
ways call his time his own. Let the hours of the busi- 
ness man and the professionalist be shortened, so that 
life may contain a broader margin. There still re- 
main but twenty-four hours in the day, and the exist- 
ing hours of business are too long and do not enable 
the majority to regulate the conditions of life prop- 
erly. Let us not be ever hastening on, as though the 
goal were to be attained only by whip and spur! — 
"the wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity 
of leisure, and he that hath little business shall be- 
come wise." 

The ideal hour for dining would be half-past six, 
with fifteen minutes' grace at the utmost, when one 
need neither sit down in a half -famished condition nor 
be sent to bed with an overcliarged stomach. Seven 
o'clock certainly is as late as one may dine with com- 
fort. A deferred dinner means either a too substan- 

268 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

tial luncheon or a distressing feeling of "goneness," 
which frequently makes itself unpleasantly audible 
long before the announcement that dinner is served; 
while lateness in dining implies additionally an in- 
sufficient interim between the dessert and the night's 
repose. No period of the day begins to be as te- 
dious as that which is often mistakenly extended for 
the benefit and encouragement of the unpunctual. 
Would that the laggard who thus mars the comfort 
of others might feel the true force of Boileau's stric- 
ture: "I have always been punctual at the hour of 
dinner, for I knew that all those whom I kept waiting 
at that provoking interval would employ those un- 
pleasant moments to sum up all my faults." To wait 
for tardy guests, it cannot be emphasised too strongly, 
is to try unwarrantabl}^ the temper of the remainder 
of the company and jeopardise the excellence of the 
repast. All such stumbling-blocks to the perfect ad- 
vance of gastronomy, however, will doubtless be re- 
moved in time, and the pleasures of the table eventu- 
ally be realised to their fullest extent in America. 

Again, turning from the state of cooker}^ in this 
country to that in England, it must be admitted that 
advancement has been far less manifest. "In gen- 
eral," a French writer remarks, "the English are little 
inclined to epicurism; it is apparent that their palate 
is not apt to appreciate the finish, the delicacy of a 
dish artistically prepared." It cannot be said that this 
stricture is entirely just, despite existent conditions. 
Neither may it be cliarged that the general state of 
English cookery is entirely the result of su])ineness on 
the part of a considerable portion of those whose in- 
269 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

terests are most affected; for the travelled liritoii is 
the first to complain of the sameness and lack of prog- 
ress which characterise his native kitchen. With abun- 
dant material and the best of meats and fish, there is 
little variety and a conspicuous want of daintiness in 
the English bill of fare; while even in the capital the 
English restaurants, with few exceptions, are scarcely 
to be commended. One nuist perforce suppose that 
these conditions are more the outcome of the national 
conservatism — the tendency to "let well enough alone" 
— than that they are not realised by a certain portion 
of the community. The Englishman is the last one, 
however, to stint at his table, whereon the ample roast 
invariably figures, and whatever maj^ chance to be 
served appears in generous profusion. 

Nor can one imagine a more delightsome host than 
the cultured Briton, who was first to proclaim the vir- 
tues of old-vintage champagnes, and who is still will- 
ing to undergo the martyrdom of gout for the sake of 
an after-glass of port which may not be equalled else- 
where. And if the English table be designated as 
"heavy" compared with that of the L^nited States, it 
must be considered that climate has much to do with 
the form of a nation's alimentation. The national 
roast beef and ale are a fuel for the body in a land 
where fogs and mists prevail, and where the heating 
of dwellings and buildings is often inadequate. The 
chop-house is essentially English, and so far as its bill 
of fare extends its merits are unquestionable. The 
Englishman will also say, and his claim cannot be dis- 
puted. Is there a better substantial soup than turtle, 
or even ox-tail and mulligatawny? is any friturc ecpial 

270 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

ill delicacy to that of whitebait!- and is not the Eng- 
lish beefsteak incomparably superior to the larded 
filet of the French? 

But turtle and turbot and beef and ale need not 
necessarily preclude the lighter forms of nutrition 
which the British lack, or that minute attention to de- 
tail without which the cuisine must languish. It is 
true that the kitchens of the very wealthy are presided 
over by skilled foreign chefs, as is the case in most 
other countries, and that my lord and my lady do not 
lack for the most exquisite refinements that the dis- 
ciples of Careme can contribute. A rich ancestral 
English country-seat, shaded by its immemorial elms 
and limes, with its splendid conservatories and gar- 
dens, its game-preserves and trout and salmon waters, 
is perhaps the best expression of refined and luxuri- 
ous hospitality to be found; and here, assuredly, the 
table does not yield in bounty and munificence to 
any in the world. Outside of comparatively few 
dishes, however, there is but little to commend in gen- 
eral English cookery; and it would seem that what 
else is specially characteristic and also good consists 
largely in the cold pieces, such as game-, pigeon-, and 
rabbit-pie, spiced beef, the lordly venison pasty, and 
similar comestibles. That there is no such thing as 
fine modern English cookery the Englishman will be 
first to acknowledge. Broadly speaking, all which is 
good is old, and all which is modern is French.^ The 

1" The English system of cookery it and turnips pale with dismay, I can- 
would be impertinent for me to de- not help a sort of inward shudder, 
scribe; but still, when I think of that and niakinf;- comparisons unfavour- 
huj»-e round of parboiled ox-flesh, able to English {i-istronomy." — Mk- 
with sodden dumplings floating in a moiks ok a Stomach, Written by 
saline, greasy mixture, surrounded Himself. London, 18.j3. 
by carrots looking red with disgust 

271 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

cooking of vegetables is notoriously poor, and variety 
in preparation is as limited on the ordinary table as 
the variety of the vegetables themselves during a 
major portion of the year. The seedsman and the 
market-gardener cannot be held accountable, for the 
seedsman produces excellent varieties in profusion, 
many of which are grown in this country, and market- 
gardeners abound who must raise them. And no gar- 
dener may excel, if equal, the Englishman, whether his 
operations extend to the kitchen- or the flower-garden. 
But where are his vegetables to be met with in per- 
fection of variety and perfection of cooking ? — a ques- 
tion that becomes almost as great a problem as was 
the universal absence of male birds among the chaf- 
finches or the mysterious disappearance of the ring- 
ouzels to Gilbert White. 

During the limited season, let us admit, there are 
some vegetables which may not be surpassed, like 
green peas and beans, cauliflower, asparagus, and 
many varieties of lettuce, especially Cos, which can- 
not be grown to equal advantage under our hot sum- 
mer sun. It is unfortunate that potatoes are cooked 
only in about one way, for few potatoes can com- 
pare in flavour with those raised in England. All 
such vegetables as demand continuous midsummer 
heat for their perfect maturity, together with late- 
ripening varieties of fruits, are necessarily raised at a 
disadvantage in most portions of Great Britain. Yet 
it would seem that the frowns of Vertumnus were far 
less responsible for this dearth of variety than the ap- 
parent apathy of the nation itself or those wlio 
are principally responsible for its alimentation — 

272 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

the cook, the epicure, the restaurant, and the house- 
wife. 

Thus, in so simple a matter as the pumpkin-pie, 
which one occasionally meets in the southern and 
southwestern shires, it is hardly surprising that it is 
held in slight estimation when one reflects that the 
material is cut up in pieces, and then, with half apple 
and half pumpkin, a pie is made similar to the ordi- 
nary English apple-pie, and this in a climate where a 
pumpkin of good quality may not be grown out of 
doors. Contrai'y to general opinion, pumpkin-pie is 
not an American but an old English dish improved 
upon by the New England housewife. Three hun- 
dred years ago, when known as the "pompion," they 
were made into pies by cutting a hole in the side, ex- 
tracting the seeds and filaments, stuffing the cavity 
with apples, and baking the whole. 

The nectarine, peach, and apricot, as raised under 
glass in England or grown as espaliers in favoured 
localities, are always superior, while the glass-grown 
"pine" nowhere else reaches such perfection. Super- 
lative, too, is the glass-grown muskmelon — netted, 
ribbed, and laced; spherical, oval, and globe-shaped; 
green-fleshed and scarlet-fleshed; and melting, juicy, 
and delicious. But some will ask, what can be more 
delectable than the scented orange-scarlet flesh of our 
own "Surprise," or the Hymettus sweetness that is 
hived beneath the wattled ribs of tlie little "Green 
Nutmeg"? The watermelon, with its great, luscious, 
rosy core, like corn and the sweet potato and its varie- 
ties, is not to be grown in Enq-land. 

Of hardy fruits America is the chosen home, unless 
273 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

it be of the grape for wine-making, wherein France 
reigns supreme. And of all districts where soil and cli- 
mate unite to second the skill of the horticulturist, there 
is 23erhaps none in which nearly all the finer species and 
varieties of fruit attain such superiority, combined 
with keeping qualities, as in the smiling garden of the 
Empire State — the Genesee Valley of New York. 
Excellent fruits are raised in P'rance and southern 
German}^ but only to a limited extent compared with 
our own country. To the French we are indebted for 
many of the finest varieties of pears, though these are 
rarely seen in France itself. Fruit in Europe is al- 
ways dear and often difficult to obtain. Yet in the 
noted Parisian restaurants it is a rare occurrence when 
one cannot obtain a couple of peaches for twenty-five 
francs, or revel in a melon for thirty, much the same 
as pineapples may be obtained in London at a guinea 
apiece. 

It will readily be conceded that the fish and meats 
of the French and Germans are usually much inferior 
to those of the English — the veal of Germany and the 
Pre-Sale mutton of France excepted. But, unlike 
the continentals, the English fail to make the most of 
their opportunities and better materials. A contem- 
poraneous English writer thus alludes to the state of 
cookery and this lack of progress in his own country: 

"The adage 'God sends meat and the devil sends cooks' must 
surely be of native parentage, for of no country is it so true 
as of our own. Perhaps had it not been for the influx among 
us of French and ItaHan experts we should not have pro- 
gressed much beyond the pancake and oatmeal period. But 
foreign chefs limit their efforts to those who can afford to 

274 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

pay them for their sorvicos. The middle chisses do not fall 
within the pale of their beneficence. The poor know them not. 
So it happens that even as I write the greater part of the com- 
munity not only cannot afford professional assistance in the 
preparation of their meals, which goes without saying, but 
from ignorance expend on their larder twice as much as a 
Parisian or an Italian in the same rank of life, with a very in- 
different result. There are handbooks of instructions, it is 
true, both for the middle and for the lower classes. These 
books are at everybody's command. But they are either left 
unread, or, if read, they are not understood." ^ 

Let it not be supposed by the stranger to the table 
of London that one may not dine there to advantage, 
or tliat the criticisms as to strictly English dinners 
apply to all hostelries and to many first-class restau- 
rants of the capital where the French haute cuisine 
prevails. London has likewise numerous Italian res- 
taiu'ants whose table d'hote is not to be despised — if 
one knows where to find them. But even in those res- 
taurants whose specialty is French cookery the menu 
is singularly incommensurate in variety to the varied 
native products, both in vegetable and animal foods. 
Even the delicious sole and turbot, however well pre- 
pared, become a weariness through constant iteration, 
while petite marmite and croilte-au-pot are so fre- 
quent as to cause one to yearn for Julienne with inex- 
pressible longing. No doubt, with a trained and old- 
time diner who knows his I^ondon thoroughly, one 
might hap])en on not a few gastronomic oases whose 
good English clieer would cause even the fog of the 
metropolis to melt into golden sunshine. 

i"Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine," by W. Carew Hazlitt, 
London, Elliot Stock, 1886. 

275 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Many old dishes still exist in the English provinces 
on whieh much store is set in their respective locah- 
ties, as, for instance, a certain pudding, rarely found 
outside of Derhyshire, called Bakewell pudding, after 
the little town on the AVye, which is also celebrated 
for its trout. Although the ancient recipe for this, 
handed down from one generation to another, is said 
to be possessed only by the landlady of the Chester- 
field Arms in Bakewell, it is asserted that a success- 
ful imitation may be made as follows: Line a pie-tin 
with pufF-paste and fill the centre with these ingre- 
dients — first layer, lemon cheese; second, raspberry 
jam; third, lemon cheese. Then strew on the top 
blanched sweet almonds and strips of candied peel of 
lemons, oranges, and citrons. Bake for about twenty 
minutes in a brisk oven, and dust very lightly with 
fine sugar. 

Of the innumerable forms of preparing the cutlet, 
the following recipe can at least lay claim to original- 
ity, and is thoroughly English : The cutlets should be 
cut from the neck of mutton, then egged and bread- 
crumbed, finely minced tongue or ham having been 
mixed with the crumbs. Fry a delicate brown. For 
the centre of the dish use the w^hites of three eggs 
steamed in a cup. Place in a saucepan gherkins, 
mushrooms, ham, and tongue cut into small bars, add- 
ing to this a sauce of good brown gravy, with a des- 
sertspoonful each of red-currant jelly, Harvey's 
sauce, mushroom ketchup, and tomato sauce. For the 
quality of this recipe the writer cannot vouch fur- 
ther than to observe that, like its predecessor, it ema- 
nates from the daintiest of feminine fingers of War- 

276 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

grave, where the excellence of the contributor's 
kitchen is equalled only by the beauty of her flower- 
garden. 

The universal employment of bottled sauces, such 
as Worcester, Halford, Harvey's, etc., and pungent 
condiments, like gherkins, mustard, chow-chow, and 
ketchup, would seem to be more or less necessary in 
England, owing to the monotony of her roast beef 
and mutton and the extensive use of cold meats, poul- 
try, and game. Harvey's sauce, mentioned among the 
ingredients of the above-mentioned recipe, owes its 
origin to this circumstance: During the middle and 
later years of JNIr. JNIeynell's mastership of the hounds 
in the celebrated Quorn country there often appeared 
in the field Captain Charles Combers, who was born 
at Brentwood in 1752, and who was more familiarly 
known as "The Flying Cucumber" from the manner 
in which he put his horses along. On one occasion, 
when on his way to Leicestershire, he stopped, as was 
his wont, at Bedford to dine at the George, then kept 
by a man named Harvey, where he ordered a steak; 
and when it was served Combers requested Harvey to 
let his servant bring from his buggy a quart bottle 
which contained an admirable sauce. Having poured 
some of it into his plate and mixed it with the gravy 
of the steak, he asked Harvey to taste it, and the host 
pronounced it to be a most excellent relish. "Well, 
Mr. Harvey," said Combers, "I shall leave the bottle 
with you to use till my return, only be careful to re- 
serve enough for me." On the next day Harvey had 
to provide a wedding dinner and introduced the sauce, 
which afforded such general satisfaction that several 
277 



THE TLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

smaller i^arties were made up, and the contents of the 
bottle were soon exhausted. 

In due time Captain Combers returned, and, hav- 
ing been told that no more sauce remained, said: 
"Never mind; I can make some more from my mo- 
ther's recipe; and, by-the-bye, I will give you a copy 
of it." He was as good as his word. Harvey made 
it in large quantities, sent it to the different shops in 
London, advertised it as "Harvey's Sauce," and by its 
extensive sale realised a large income. He subse- 
quently sold the recipe for an annuity of £400 or 
£500, which he received for the remainder of his life. 

Among old English dishes, "Bubble and Squeak" 
is the fanciful name applied to fried beef or mutton 
and cabbage, — 

"When 'midst the frying-pan, in accents savage, 
The beef so surly quarrels with the cabbage," — 

for the preparation of which widely varied recipes are 
given in the vade-mecums of English cookery. Kitch- 
ener even set the lines to music, and furnished a sauce 
for the dish. Such a dish illustrates the excellent di- 
gestion of the English. To the French it would be 
impossible, and a German would think twice before 
attempting it. But this were harmless compared with 
an English green sauce for green geese or ducklings, 
the prescription for which reads: "]Mix a quarter of a 
pint of sorrel- juice, a glass of white wine, and some 
scalded gooseberries. Add sugar and a bit of butter, 
and boil them up." 

To cavil is easy, however, and in matters relating 
to cookery it were well to bear in mind the philosophic 

278 



AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY 

lines of King, a contemporary of the late lamented 
Mrs. Glasse: 

"Good nature will some failings overlook, 
Forgive mischance, not errors of the Cook ; 
As, if no salt is thrown about the dish, 
Or nice crisp'd parsley scatter'd on the fish ; 
Shall we in passion from our dinner fly, 
And hopes of pardon to the Cook deny. 
For things Avhich Mrs. Glasse herself might oversee, 
And all mankind commit as well as she?" 

And if English cookery and English restaurants 
leave much to be desired, one should not forget that 
the art is still far from having attained perfection in 
the United States, where the stranger in like manner 
might find ample cause for complaint, particularly in 
the poor and slipshod cookery of the hostelries of its 
country towns. Certainly all who have visited in 
England will recall the generous hospitality of its 
people, the almost homelike comfort and cleanliness 
of its inns, and a service that may not be equalled by 
that of any other nation. When to these are added 
the glories of the English countryside — the idyllic set- 
ting amid which many a repast has been savoured — 
one may well overlook any trifling lapses of the cook, 
in view of enchantments that must ever be retained in 
tender recollection. 



279 




AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 



"Bishop and Abbot and Prior were there; 
Many a Monk and many a Friar." 

Ingoldsby Legends : Tlie Jackdaw of Rlieims. 



WHETHER cookery is indebted to the Roman 
Catholic Church to the full extent that is com- 
monly supposed is questionable. It is certain, how- 
ever, that the olden monks and friars performed con- 
siderable service in preserving ancient recipes and 
inventing new formulas, many of which have been 
improved upon as the science has advanced. 

Previous to the Renaissance the higher cultivation 
of cookery was confined largely to the monasteries, 
which prided themselves upon their excellent cheer and 
the hospitality they extended to distinguished visitors. 
Indeed, mnnbers of food preparations may be traced 
to the monastic orders, especially forms of cooking fish, 

280 




NON IN SOLO PANE VIVIT HOMO 
From tlie original oil-painting by Klein 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

eggs, and various soups. The introduction of soup, 
which is mentioned for the first time in history at the 
beginning of the fifteenth century, is closely connected 
with the clergy. Then it was that, during the fetes 
attendant on the marriage of Catherine de Valois to 
Henry V of England, the Archbishop of Sens, at 
the head of a procession of his priests, bore the soup 
and the wine to the royal chamber, accompanied by 
the blessing of the Papal See. 

Around the art of larding is likewise shed the 
halo of sanctity, its discovery having occurred during 
the Council of Bale in 1440, when Amadeus of Savoy, 
elected pope under the name of Felix V, was tendered 
a larded capon by his cook. Julienne, or a soup some- 
what similar, it is more than probable, is an old monas- 
tic dish having special reference to days when meat 
was proscribed, the same observation applying to nu- 
merous fish and vegetable soups and ragouts. 

There is much reason to suj^pose that not a few 
treatises on cookery and on wines have appeared 
whose authors were dignitaries of the church, or at 
least connected with clericalism, but whose role for- 
bade them attaching their names to works of this na- 
ture. Thus, during the year 1671 there was published 
at jNIolsheim, in southern Germany, an excellent cook- 
book which treated of tlie various branches of the 
science, by Bernardin Buchinger, Abbot of Liitzel, 
having for its title "Koch-Buch so fiir Geistliche als 
auch Weltliche Grosse und Geringe Haushaltungen," 
etc., — "Cook-Book for large and small Religious as 
well as Laical Establishments," — a culinary grammar 
of much merit which has since passed into several 
281 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

editions. In this work the hierophant's name was 
omitted, the authorship being announced as "Durch 
Einem Geistlichen Kiichen-lNIeister desz Gottes- 
hauses Liitzel beschrieben und practicirt," — "described 
and practised by a rehgioiis jNlaster-Cook of the 
ISIonastery of Liitzel." An important volume of three 
hundred pages by Vittorio Lancellotti, published in 
Rome, appeared in 1627, in w^hich is presented month 
by month a descrij^tion of a large number of feasts 
given by various prelates in honour of eminent per- 
sonages at the commencement of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. The volume was dedicated to Cardinal Ippo- 
lito Aldobrandino, and is addressed chiefly to the 
clergy, whose good taste in the matter of good cheer 
and luxury in entertaining are minutely set forth. ^ 

To the ancient ecclesiasts the vineyards producing 
the finest wines of the world owe their existence and 
their fame — the Johannisberg, Steinberg, Hoch- 
heim, Dom Dechanei, Rauenthal-PfafFenberg, and 
numerous other growths of the Rheingau; the 
Forster Kirchenstiick and Jesuitengarten of the 
Rheinpfalz; the Stein and Leisten wines of Fran- 
conia, the Liebfrauenmilch Enclos Klostergarten of 
Rhenish Hessia, and the Kloster Neuberg of Austria. 
Xo less celebrated in other lands are the rich endow- 
ments of the monastery — the Romance, Cliambertin, 
and Clos-^^ougeot of the Cote d'Or; the Hermitage 
and Chateau-neuf-du-Pape of the Rhone ; Saint-Emi- 
lion and Sainte-Croix-du-]Mont of the Gironde, as 

i"Lo Scalco prattic'o di Vittorio merlengo di Santa Chiesa. In Roma 

Lancellotti da Camerino All'Illus- Appresso Francesco Corbelletti. 

trissinio, e Reucrendiss. Prt'iicipe 11 16-27." 
Card. Ippolito Aldobrandino Ca- 

282 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

well as many of the priceless growths of the Haut- 
JNIedoc. Like the odour of old arras, around the ro- 
seate and golden clusters of the vine clings the incense 
of prelacy and circles the aureole of the chvu'ch. 

One were more than ungrateful, too, to forget the 
invaluable services rendered by Dom Perignon in con- 
tributing to the vinous delights of the table. Fancy, 
if one can, a world without champagne — not as a 
daily beverage, but as a talisman to loosen the tongues 
of the timid and a wand to evoke the joyous sally and 
brilliant repartee! With what other potable may one 
so appropriately pledge not only le beau sea^e des deux 
hemispheres, mais les deux heinispheres du beau sexe? 

Almost ecjually to be commended are the Carthu- 
sian friars of Dauphine, who evolved the greens and 
golds of Chartreuse; the cenobites of La Grace-Dieu, 
who produced Trappistine; the Trappists of I'AUier, 
in whose cloister originated the elixir of long life, de 
Sept-Fonds; and the holy fathers of Rouen, who in- 
vented the delicious balm of Bon-Secours. 

The religious orders were early famed for their dis- 
tillations. In the account of his travels in Italy the 
observant Seigneur de JNIontaigne mentions the Jes- 
uits of Vicenza, who had a liqueur-shop in their mon- 
astery, as well as the monks of Verona, who were ex- 
cellent distillers of eau de naffe, a liqueur made with 
the flower of citron. The famous Benedictine, liow- 
ever, a rival of Chartreuse, though at present made by 
the monks of Fecamp in Normandy, and therefore 
possessing the stamp of monachism, was not of spirit- 
ual inspiration. Like the eaujle vie des Cannes, Li- 
queur des Eveques, Eau Archie piseo pale, Liqueur 
283 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

des Chart reuvC, Fla'mr dcs Dames, and Huile des 
Jeunes Maries, it was worldly in its inception. Its 
history is interesting. In 1863 JNI. Le Grand, an 
enterprising wine-merchant of Fecamp, set about its 
manufacture, advertising it to the amount of eight 
hundred thousand francs, — his entire fortune, — the 
claim being made that the secret of its fabrication 
was consigned by a Benedictine brother to a manu- 
script in 1510 and opportunely discovered by the ven- 
der. The venture proved successful, as indeed the 
virtues of the liqueur merited, its annual sale now 
exceeding a million bottles. At first the clergy pro- 
tested loudly against the bald appropriation of the 
name of an abbey, and Cardinal Bonnechose^ petitioned 
Napoleon III to put an end to the scandal, the re- 
stored order eventually taking up the manufacture of 
the cordial and signing it with the name of the inven- 
tor, whose final Bencdiciie was recently pronounced. 
The present Archbishop of liouen came to bless the 
most recent constructions of the abbey, among which 
is a superb Salle des Ahbes, and, at the banquet fol- 
lowing the ceremonial, during the dessert he compared 
the inventor of the liqueur to several of the heroes of 
Christianity. Benedictine {ad majorem Dei gloriaJti) 
is the only important liqueur thus far which has es- 
caped analysis, although imitations of this and all 
others that have proved successful are freely placed 
upon the market. 

Cura^oa, it is said, was discovered b}^ a French cha- 
noine, and the aroma of the wild cherry imprisoned in 

^Cardinal Bonnechose, who was " Le clerfje est un regiment; il faut 
most appropiately surnamed, is es- qu'il marche." 
pecially remembered for his bon-mot, 

284 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

Maraschino by an Italian frate. A German Pfarrer, 
it is averred, first dissolved gold in the eaii de vie de 
Dantzig, and through a Spanish sacerdote is said to 
have come Santa Cruz, the rum of the Holy Cross. 
In the quest for the elixir of life the monastery be- 
came the great alembic of liqueurs, the study of es- 
sences, spirits, and distillations varying with the labour 
of illuminating missals and the routine of religious 
devotions. During the thirteenth century Arnaud de 
Villeneuve formulated the question of the elixir of life 
in these terms, which became a dogma for all his mo- 
nastic successors: "This is the secret, viz., to find sub- 
stances so homogeneous to our nature that they can 
increase it without inflaming it, continue it without 
diminishing it, . . . as our life continually loses 
somewhat, until at last all is lost." The outcome of 
the patient labours of these religious alchemists was 
numerous elixirs and liqueurs, of which the secret com- 
position was transmitted from generation to genera- 
tion in convents and monasteries. These liqueurs were 
in their origin simply a pharmaceutic product; it is 
only within a comparatively short time that they have 
been converted into after-dinner douceurs. 

Every useful art, however, must find perfection of 
expression sooner or later, notably an art which is a 
necessity and which likewise appeals to the lawful 
gratification of the senses. And if cookery was fos- 
tered by the cloisters of Europe, and reached its zenith 
during the early part of the past century in Paris, it is 
equally true that at no time in the history of the world 
has it attained such general excellence as at present. 

But let the religious orders and the priesthood be 
285 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

credited with their full share in its advancement. 
They are no exception to the generality of mankind in 
being blessed with appetites, but they are sufficiently 
intelligent to recognise that in a well-appointed cuisine 
there exist both a prophylactic to ennui and the best 
of pharmacopceias. Let the spit turn merrily, there- 
fore, and the carp fatten in their ponds ; let the flower 
of the vine and the pressings of the grape distil for 
them their fragrance; let them repeat their paternos- 
ters and chant in concert their penitential psalms : 

"1. One herring and one herring make two lierrings, 
Two herrings and one herring make three herrings. 

"2. Three lierrings and one lierring make four herrings, 
Four herrings and one herring make five herrings. 

"3. Five lierrings and one herring make six herrings." 

And so on up to a hundred herrings. 

"From salted, red, or smoked herrings, libera nos, Domine; 
From cold water as a beverage, libera nos, Domine. 

A- a- a- amenP^ 

It is most unfortunate that La Reyniere omitted to 
bequeath to posterity a certain monastic recipe of mar- 
vellous merit used in connection with wild fowl and 
all manner of game-birds, which is thus described in 
the brilliant opening essay of the first year of the "Al- 
manach," the author's reference being to the wild 
duck, which he advises to be cooked a la hroche, as it 
thus preserves all its fumct without losing any of its 
other qualities : 

286 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

"After it has been roasted and carved" [he proceeds to say] 
"a sort of poignant salmis may be prepared on the table, the 
recipe for which we have been in possession of for a long 
time, and which was given to us by the procureur of a Ber- 
nardin abbey — the sole riches that the Revolution could not 
confiscate from him ; this fornmla, however, we must reserve 
for our most intimate friends. The recipe is not to be found 
in any nutritive dispensary, and it becomes all the more pre- 
cious inasmuch as, not being applicable to the duck alone, it 
may be utilized Avith all kinds of dark-fleshed feathered game, 
and especially with partridges and woodcock — which renders 
it inappreciable." 

Far less can be said of the Protestant clergy on the 
score of cookery or with respect to the improvement 
of the vine and the invention of beverages. Nearly 
all clerical roads lead through Rome, it would seem, 
in so far as relates to gastronomy. JNIoreover, in Prot- 
estant countries — at least among the lesser lights of 
the church — it is rather the rector who is feted than 
who does the feting, and who, even were he inclined to 
asceticism, would scarcely be allowed to practise it by 
his parishioners. In one of his essays, "The Country 
Sunday," Richard Jefferies tells how the chapel pas- 
tor is entertained at table in AViltshire: 

"There is no man so feasted as the chapel pastor. He 
dines every Sunday, and at least once a week besides, at the 
house of one of his stoutest upholders. . . . After dinner 
the cognac bottle is produced, and the pastor fills his tumbler 
half full of spirit, and but lightly dashes it with water. It 
is cognac, and not brandy, for your chapel minister thinks 
it an affront if anything more common than the best French 
287 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

liquor is put bcfoiv him; he hkcs it strong, uiul with it his 
long clay pipe. Very frequently another minister, some- 
times two or three, come in at the same time, and take the 
same dinner, and afterwards form a genial circle with cognac 
and tobacco, wlien tlie room speedily becomes full of smoke 
and the bottle of brandy soon disappears. In these family 
parties there is not the least approach to over-conviviality ; 
it is merely the custom, no one thinks anything of a glass and 
a pipe; it is perfectly innocent; it is not a local thing, but 
common and understood. The consumption of brandy and 
tobacco and the good things of dinner, tea, and supper (for 
the party generally sit out the three meals) must in a month 
cost the host a good deal of money, but all things are cheer- 
fully borne for the good of the church. Never were men 
feasted with such honest good-will as these pastors ; and if a 
budding Paul or Silas happens to come along who has scarce 
yet passed his ordination, the youthful divine ma}' stay a 
week if he likes, and lick the platter clean." 

One also remembers the curates' dinner as described 
in "The Professor" by that keen observer, Charlotte 
Bronte: 

"The curates had good appetites, and though the beef was 
tough, they ate a great deal of it. They swallowed, too, a 
tolerable allowance of the 'flat beer,' while a dish of York- 
shire pudding and two tureens of vegetables disappeared like 
leaves before locusts. The cheese, too, received distinguished 
marks of their attention ; and a 's})ice-cake,' which followed by 
wa}' of dessert, vanished like a vision and was no more found." 

Anthony Hayward, in "Tlie Art of Dining," tells 
the story of the phenomenal appetite of a chaplain 
during the Old Bailey sittings, when it was tlie cus- 

288 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

torn to serve two dinners (exact duplicates) a day, the 
first at three o'clock, the second at five : 

"The first course w.as rather miscellaneous, varying with 
the season, though marrow-puddings always formed a part 
of it; the second never varied and consisted exchisively of 
beefsteaks. As the judges reheved each other, it was imprac- 
ticable for them to partake of both; but a httlc chaplain 
whose duty it was to preside at the lower end of the table was 
never absent from his post. This invaluable public servant 
persevered from a sheer sense of duty till he had acquired the 
habit of eating two dinners a day, and practised it for nearly 
ten 3^ears without any perceptible injury to his health. We 
had the pleasure of witnessing his performance at one of the 
five o'clock dinners, and can assert with confidence that the 
vigour of his attack on the beefsteaks was wholly unimpaired 
by the effective execution a friend assured us he had done 
on them two hours before." 

The last communication from the Rev. Sydney 
Smith to Canon Barham, better known as Thomas In- 
goldsby, related to gastronomy, with the ethics of 
which he was so conversant, the canon having just sent 
him a pannier of pheasants. 

"INIany thanks, my dear sir, for your kind present 
of game," wrote the appreciative recipient. "If there 
is a pure and elevated pleasure in this world, it is that 
of roast pheasant and bread-sauce; barn-door fowls 
for dissenters, but for the real churchman, the thirty- 
nine times articled clerk, the pheasant! the pheasant!" 

Why the witty rector of Combe-Florey declared 

that when lie found himself seated next to a bishop at 

a dinner-party lie became so nervous that he could do 

nothing but crumble his bread, and when his place ad- 

289 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

joined that of an archbishop he crumbled it with both 
hands, seems inexphcable, unless it had been his mis- 
chance to encounter among his superiors in office more 
accomplished epularians than himself. Besides his 
celebrated poetical recipes for a salad, which are pre- 
sented in a following chapter, his less familiar "Re- 
ceipt to Roast ^Mutton" may not be omitted from ref- 
erences to ecclesiastic good cheer: 

"Gently stii' and blow the fire, 
I^ay the mutton down to roast. 

Dress it quickly, I desire, 
In the dripping put a toast, 

That I hunger may remove — 

JMutton is the meat I love. 

"On the dresser see it lie ; 

Oh ! the cliarming white and red ; 
Finer meat ne'er met the eye, 

On the sweetest grass it fed : 
Let the jack go swiftly round, 
Let me have it nicely brown'd. 

"On the table spread the cloth, 
Let the knives be sharp and clean, 

Pickles get and salad both. 
Let them each be fresh and green. 

With small beer, good ale, and wine, 

O ye gods ! how I shall dine !" 

Canon Barham, no less than Sydney Smith, wielded 
a valiant spoon, and to the unpunctual at dinner he 
has delivered one of his most forcible sermons in "The 
Layof St. Cuthbert": 

290 



I 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

"When asked out to dine by a Person of Quality, 
Mind and observe the most strict punctuality ! 

For should 3'ou come late, and make dinner wait. 
And the victuals get cold, you '11 incur, sure as fate. 
The Master's displeasure, the Mistress's hate. 
And though both may, perhaps, be too well-bred to swear, — 
They '11 heartily wish you — I need not say Where.^* 

Grace before meat is usually well expressed by the 
reverend clergy, and perhaps the brief introductory 
thanksgiving of the late Canon Shuttleworth is 
as happy as any: "For good life and good health; for 
good company and good cheer, may the Giver of all 
good things make us thankful." So far as orthodox 
graces are concerned, it were difficult to improve upon 
tlie two fervent thanksgivings of Psalms xxxiv and 
cxLv: 

"The lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they who seek 
the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good. 

"The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord : and thou givest 
them their meat in due season. 

"Thou openest thine hand : and fillest all things living with 
plenteousness." 

So many Protestant denominations exist in Amer- 
ica that the manner of entertaining the ministry varies 
considerably. In no religious sect does fine cham- 
pagne or any other form of cognac figure, as a gen- 
eral rule, though the use of vinous beverages is less de- 
nounced at present than formerly. The most genial 
hosts and guests among Protestant divines are unques- 
tionably the Episcopalians. But if claret and alco- 
291 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

holic beverages are the exception on the tables of many 
denominations, the pastor does not lack for substantial 
aliments when entertained by his parishioners, who 
here, as in England, fairly dispute for his possession. 
That the duck at least, among the toothsome contri- 
butions to the table, is appreciated by the Protestant 
clergy no less than the laity is apparent from the apos- 
trophe to the canvasback of the Rev. Joseph Barber, 
who has addressed the king of the Anseres in these 
colourful stanzas : 

"A duck has been immortalized by Bryant, 

A wild one, too ; 
Sweetly he liymncd the creature, lithe and buoyant, 

Cleaving the blue. 
But whoso sa^'S the duck through ether flying, 

Seen by the bard, 
Equals the canvas-back before me lying. 

Tells a canard. 

"Done to a turn, the flesh a dark carnation. 

The gravy red ; 
Four slices from the breast — on such a ration 

Gods might have fed. 
Bryant, go to: to say that thy rare ghost-duck, 

Traced 'gainst the sky, 
Could e'er at all compare with this rare roast duck. 

Is all ni}'^ eye." ^ 

1 Whither, 'midst falling dew, 

While glow the heavens with the last steps of daj% 
Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue 
Thy solitary way ? 

Vainly the fowler's eye 

Might Tuark thy distant flight to do thee wrong. 
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky. 

Thy figure floats along. . . . 

Bhvant: Lines to a Waterfowl. 

292 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

As regards wine the case is vastly difFerent in Eu- 
rope, among both the clergy and those who welcome 
them. When LTrban X resohed to remove the Papal 
See from Avignon to Rome grave discord resulted 
among his cardinals, several of whom refused to ac- 
company him. Petrarch, in reply to a letter received 
from the Pope soon afterwards, wherein his Holiness 
expressed his astonishment at their action, explained 
the reason thus briefly: "JNIost holy Father," he wrote, 
"the princes of the church esteem the wine of Pro- 
vence, and know that the wines of France are more 
rare than holy water at Rome." 

The anecdote of the cure of a village in the Borde- 
lais would indicate, furthermore, that the cloth prefer 
their wine in a non-diluted state. On the occasion of 
a wedding dinner at which the officiating pastor was 
present, he would exclaim after every course, as he 
raised his glass: "INIy children, with this you must 
drink some wine." The turn of dessert arriving, he 
repeated his injunction for the tenth time, again set- 
ting the example himself. 

"Pardon, INIonsieur le Cure," one of the guests in- 
terrupted, "but with what do you not drink wine?" 

"With water, my son!" 

During the episcopate of Bisliop Timon of Buffalo, 
a Roman Catholic prelate of great ability but of 
small statiu'c, complaint was entered against a certain 
German priest of the diocese for his over-conviviality 
and partiality for the foaming glass of Gambrinus, 
the offender being a man of FalstaflRan proportions. 
The priest was accordingly summoned, and, after 
being severely reprimanded, was asked by the bishop 
293 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

if he could l)ring forward any extenuating circum- 
stances with regard to his conduct. 

"Your Reverence is a small man, and my detractors 
are men of small calibre, who require but little beer," 
was the reply. "I am a large man, as you are aware, 
with a large appetite, and what might suffice for 
others were scant pittance for me; the vessel should 
be filled according to its capacity." 

That so distinguished a church dignitary as a bishop 
should dine well goes without saying. How else might 
he be so urbane, so stately, and so contented! And 
without wine how might he dispense such sunshine or 
pronounce his blessings so sonorously! For a bishop, 
dean, or archdeacon to be tendered scanty fare or be 
toasted with ice-water were as incongruous as to de- 
prive the beverage termed "bishop" of its main ingre- 
dient. When Bishop INIagee of Peterborough, af- 
terwards Archbishop of York, was "entertained" by 
another church dignitary he was told on his arrival 
that he w^ould find wine in his room. The dinner 
which he afterwards sat down to was a wineless one. 
A few weeks later the positions of host and guest were 
reversed, whereupon the bishop, shaking hands heart- 
ily with his visitor, informed him that he would find 
water in his room and wine upon the table. 

"Scarcely any bishop," says Sydney Smith, "is suf- 
ficiently a man of the world to deal with fanatics. 
The way is not to reason with them, but to ask them 
to dinner. They are armed against logic and remon- 
strance, but they are puzzled in a labyrinth of wines, 
disarmed by facilities and concessions, introduced to 
a new world, and come away thinking more of hot 

294 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

and cold and dry and sweet than of Newman, Keble, 
and Pusey." 

A number of years ago, when long tables were in 
vogue at the great hostelries at Saratoga, Bishop 
Onderdonk of New York was among the guests. 
The bishop, in accordance with his station, was seated 
at the head of the table, where the attentive head 
waiter had just placed his bottle of hotel "Pontet- 
Canet." Among the other clerical guests was a Con- 
necticut divine and teetotaler who had come to test 
the restorative virtues of Congress water, so delicious 
when drunk at the fountainhead in the morning. 

"All!" said the cynical dominie to a ministerial vis- 
a-vis, as he frowned over his Oolong and the portly 
prelate beamed over his Bordeaux, "he wants to prove 
his apostolic descent by showing that if he drink of 
any deadly thing it shall not hurt him." 

Later, when his Right Reverence was informed of 
the remark, he obsei-ved, quoting Ecclesiasticus as his 
would-be detractor had quoted St. Mark, " 'Wine 
measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness 
of the heart and cheerfulness of the mind,' and as a 
churchman it were heretical for me to take exception 
to so orthodox a precept." 

The minister wliose knowledge of gastronomy is 
far exceeded by his zeal in "reforming," notably in 
an attempted extermination of all joyous fluids, is far 
more prevalent in the United States than abroad. 
While no one will object to his denunciation of "King 
Rum" or the "Wine-cup," — though rum is but little 
used as a beverage, and wine is supposed to be con- 
sumed in glasses at the dinner-table, — one must nev- 
295 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ertheless deplore the inconsistency which would an- 
nihilate all alcoholic fluids and permit the grossest 
heterodoxness of diet to pass unscathed. Not unde- 
served, perchance, are the lines addressed to this class 
of the clergy hy a ^Vestern versifier: 

"He preached 'gainst whisky, rum, and gin, 
All use of liquor he W decry ; 
He said that drinking was a sin — 
But eat tlie toughest kind of pie. 

"He said tliere was no greater vice 

Than that which made of man a sot — 
But took not water without ice. 

And gorged himself on biscuit hot. 

"He flouted the advice of Paul 

To drink wine for the stomach's sake — 
But give him dumpling in a ball, 
And any quantity he 'd take. 

"Tobacco in each form he spurned, 
Its soothing virtues he denied ; 
For him no soft Havana burned — 
But lie would eat a beefsteak fried. 

"Jaundiced he lived, and (bed of spleen. 
And some kept green his memory then — 
Called him 'reformer,' who had been 
Tlie most intemperate of men." 

On more catholic lines is the gastronomic experi- 
ence of a distinguished Baptist doctor of divinity of 
western New York, who, though always temperate, 

296 



Be la tablel^ou 
mllmit impiU 
mtt ^ ^am. 




LA CONTENANCE DE LA TABLE 
Facsimile of title-page, early part of sixteenth centiirj' 

" Enfant, tu ne dois charger 
Tant de la premiere viande 
Se plusieurs en as en commande 
Que d'aiistres ne puisses menger." 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

still believes in the sentiment of the grace that was 
once uttered by an English Episcopal clergyman: 
"God hath given us all things richly to enjoy; let 
us enjoy them." The learned divine in his younger 
days was one of a party of four who were concluding 
a long sojourn abroad, and ere leaving Paris he was 
desirous of testing the much-vaunted cuisine of the 
"Trois Freres Proven^eaux." His suggestion that 
the appetising odours which greeted the passer-by 
from without be verified from within having met 
with immediate approval, the ofjicier de bouche of the 
famous restaurant was interviewed and a dinner ar- 
ranged for the following evening. 

"What will be the price of a nice dinner," inquired 
the ecclesiast, — "a dinner that will leave us no cause 
for regret? We do not care for the menu in advance, 
as we prefer a surprise ; but we wish a perfect dinner, 
neither too little nor too much." 

The reply was promptly forthcoming, and here we 
transcribe a leaf from the ecclesiast's note-book: 

" 'Pour vingt francs un diner ordinaire. 
" 'Pour quarantc francs un tres joli diner! 
" 'Pour cent francs un grand diner ! !' — the voice of the res- 
taurateur rising with the advancing prices." 

These interesting notes then follow: 

"Tuesday, June 3, 1860. Present : , , , . 

Dinner at 7 f.m. Dress suits. Voiture de remise. Portier 
with red waistcoat. Cabinet in entresol liung with pink silk 
tapestry. Tln-ee gar^ons, fine china, silver and table appoint- 
ments. A bouquet of roses. Perfect service. 

297 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"Menu. Nine courses: — Melon musque d* Algiers. Potage 
a la bisque (rod soup with little red shrimps in centre of each 
tlish). Vol-an-vent dc saiimon. . . . Salade. Checkerboard 
ice-cream (sixteen different colours and flavours). Great 
strawberries. Coffee (demi-tasse), cognac, .cigars. Four 
wines: Sauterne, claret, and two champagnes." 

Unfortunately, the menu itself has been lost, and 
the memory of our clerical informant has retained 
only a portion of the carte, which we have trans- 
scribed from the memoranda he has contributed. AVas 
there a chapon a la Toulouse or noix de veau a la 
Souhise for the releve; did lamb's ears a la Tortu'e 
or carhonnades de 7noutou a la Macedoine form the 
entree; did a caneton de Rouen, a poularde truffee, or 
a coq-vierge do the honours of the roast; could des 
truffes au vin de Champagne or a gelee an maras- 
quin have augured as the entremets; and, finally, what 
might have been the grosse piece? Alas! these ques- 
tions, like many questions of theology, must remain 
unanswered. It will be observed, notwithstanding, 
how tlie wall furnishings, the roses, the red of the 
bisque, the ripe hues of the melon and the salmon, the 
erubescence of the strawberries, and the very waist- 
coat of the avertisseur were happily combined; and 
also that as far back as 1860 the muskmelon had al- 
ready been employed as an admirable prologue of 
the dinner during warm weatlier. As for the check- 
erboard creme glacee, with four flavours and four 
colours for each person, it is an addition to the dessert 
that is almost worthy of a sermon. 

The following sujoplementary notes conclude the 
interesting account of the dinner: 

298 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

"The solid part of the menu I have no record or memory 
of. All I know is that we ate pretty much everything that 
was in sight, and then had just enough and no more. The 
dinner concluded with four toasts and four speeches, the only 
one I recall being on the theme, 'The Four Homes' — not one 
of the four speakers having at the time set up a home of his 
own. 

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever. We went upon the 
Ijatin maxim, In medio tutissimus ibis, and so we took the 
ires joli diner, which, with vins compris, cost us forty francs 
or eight dollars apiece. But the recollection of it has been 
worth at least two dollars a 3'car since then ; and as it is forty 
years ago last sunnner, and two times forty is eighty, I now 
count that I then paid only ten per cent, of its value." 

It is needless to add that the sermons and addresses 
of the ecclesiast in question, which join to their fer- 
vour and scholarship an originality all their own 
(were they not inspired by the dinner at the "Trois 
Freres"?), are always listened to with marked atten- 
tion by his large and appreciative audiences. It also 
goes without saying that he has distinguished himself 
in literature, and that his presence is invariably in 
demand either at a dinner or a debate of theologians. 

Of dishes invented by the Roman Catholic priest- 
hood, the omelette a la puree de pintade, devised by 
the Capuchin Cliabot, is well known, although "The 
Cure's Omelette" for which Savarin stands sponsor 
is far more in evidence and is difficult to improve upon 
either for fat or meagre days. Should tlie recipe be 
already familiar, it will well bear repetition — one can- 
not dine too often with a broad-minded divine ; if un- 
known, the reader should become acquainted with it 
299 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

— it is one of the most sprightly of the Varietcs. The 
tunny prescribed is not obhgatory, and for this and 
the carp-roes the resources of the American sea-coast 
Avill furnish abundant equivalents: 

"Every one knows that for twenty years INIadanie R.^ lias 
occupied the throne of beauty un challenged. It is also well 
known that she is extremely charitable, taking interest in most 
of those schemes whose object is to console and assist the 
wretched. 

"Wishing to consult M. le Cure on something connected 
Avith that subject, she called upon him at five o'clock one aftei'- 
noon, and was astonished to find him already at table. She 
thought ever3'body in Paris dined at six, not knowing that 
the ecclesiastics general!}^ begin early because they take a 
light collation in the evening. 

"Madame R. was about to retire, but the cure begged her 
to stay, either because the matter they were to talk about 
need not prevent him dining, or because a pretty woman is 
never a mar- feast for any man; or perhaps because he 
bethought himself that somebody to talk to was all that was 
wanted to convert his dining-room into a gastronomic Ely- 
sium. 

"The table was laid with a neat Avhite cloth, some old wine 
sparkled in a crystal decanter, the white porcelain was of the 
choicest qualit}^, the plates had heaters of boiling water under 
them, and a servant, demure but neat, was in attendance. 

"The repast was a happy mean between the frugal and the 
luxurious. Some crab soup hud just been removed, and there 
was now on the table a salmon-trout, an omelette, and a salad. 

" 'My dinner shows you what perhaps you did not know,' 
said the pastor, with a smile, 'that according to the laws of 
the church meat is forbidden to-day.' The visitor bowed 
1 Mme. Recamier. 

300 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

her assent, but at the same time, as a private note informs me, 
slightly blushed, which, however, by no means prevented the 
cure from eating. 

"Operations were already begun upon the trout, its upper 
side being fully disposed of ; the sauce gave proof of a skilful 
hand, and the pastor's features betokened inwai'd satisfaction. 
That dish removed, ho attacked the omelette, which was round, 
full-bellied, and cooked to a nicety. At the first stroke of the 
spoon, there ran out a thick juice, tempting both to sight and 
smell; the dish seemed full of it, and my dear cousin confessed 
that her mouth watered. 

"Some signs of natural sympathy did not escape the cure, 
accustomed to watch the passions of men ; and, as if in answer 
to a question whicji ^ladame R. took great care not to put, 
'this is a tunny omelette,' said he. 'jNIy cook has a wonder- 
ful knack at them. Nobodv ever tastes them without compli- 
menting me.' 'I am not at all astonished,' replied the lady 
visitor ; 'for on our worldly tables there is never seen an ome- 
lette half so tempting.' 

"This was followed by the salad— a finishing item which I 
recommend to the use of all who have faith in my teaching, 
for salad refreshes without fatiguing, and strengthens with- 
out irritating. I usually say it renews one's youth. 

"The dinner did not interrupt their conversation. Besides 
the matter in hand, they spoke of the events of the time, the 
hopes of the church, and other topics. The dessert passed, 
consisting of some Scptmoncel cheese, three apples, and some 
preserved fruit ; and then the servant placed on a small table 
a cup of hot mocha, clear as amber, and filling the room with 
its aroma. Having sipped his coffee, the cure said grace. 'I 
never drink spirits,' he said as they rose ; 'it is a superfluity I 
offer to my guests, but personally reserve as a resource for 
old age should it please God that I live so long.' 

"In the meantime six o'clock had arrived, and Madame R., 

301 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

hurrying home, found herself late for dinner, and several 
friends waiting for her whom she had invited for that day. 
I was one of the party, and thus came to hear of the cure's 
omelette; for our hostess did nothing but speak of it during 
dinner, and everybody was certain it must have been excellent. 

"Thus it is that as a propagator of truths I feel it my 
duty to make known the preparation; and I give it the more 
willingly to all lovers of the art that I have not been able to 
find it in any cookery book. 

"Hash up together the roes of two carp, carefully bleached, 
a piece of fresh tunny, and a little minced shallot ; when well 
mixed throw the whole into a saucepan with a lump of the 
best butter, and whip it up till the butter is melted. This 
constitutes the specialty of the omelette. 

"Then in an oval dish mix separately a lump of butter 
with parsley and chives, and squeezing over it the juice of a 
lemon, place it over hot embers in readiness. Next complete 
the omelette by beating up twelve eggs, pouring in the roes 
and tunny, and stirring till all is well mixed ; then, when prop- 
erly finished, and of tlic right form and consistence, spread 
it out skilfully on the oval dish which you have ready to 
receive it, and serve up to be eaten at once. 

"This dish should be reserved for breakfasts of refinement, 
for connoisseurs in gastronomic art — those who understand 
eating, and where all eat with judgment; but especially let it 
be washed down with some good old wine, and you will see 
wonders." 

Among the dignitaries of the Roman Church, Riche- 
lieu was preeminent as an entertainer, his table being 
renowned for its excellence, and no one being more 
exacting with his cooks. A chartreuse a la Cardinal 
or a hoiidin of fowls a la Richelieu at once recalls his 
Eminence, and the brilliant reign during which he 

302 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

himself virtuallj^ wielded the sceptre. "I do not think 
very highly of that man," said the Comte de JNI. in 
speaking of a candidate who had just secnred an im- 
portant position: "he has never eaten boudin a la 
Kichelieii, and is unacquainted with cutlets a la Soii- 
hise.'" 

During the war of Hanover, when the surround- 
ing country had been devastated by the French army, 
JNIarechal Richelieu, grandnephew of the cardinal, 
wished to give a suitable dinner to a large number of 
distinguished captives before setting them free. He 
was informed by his cooks that the larder was empty. 

"But it was only yesterday that I saw two horns 
passing by the window." 

"That is true, JNIonseigneur, there is a beef and 
some few roots; but what would you do with them?" 

"What would I do with them? Pardieu, I would 
have the best supper in the world!" 

"But, Monseigneur, it is impossible." 

"Nothing is impossible. Rudiere, write out the 
menu that I will dictate. Do you know how to write 
out a menu properl}^?" 

"I acknowledge, Monseigneur, that — " 

"Give me your pen." 

And with this the marechal, taking the place 
of his secretary, improvised a classic supper wor- 
thy of Vatel. At the end of the bill of fare was 
added : 

"If through any mischance this repast is not an ex- 
cellent one, I will deduct one liundred pistoles from 
the wages of Claret and Rouquelere. Begin, and 
doubt no more. Richelieu." 
303 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

There was a certain Bishop of Burgundy who took 
his share of responsibihty in consuming, with a hu- 
mour all his own, viands which had not been come by 
legally. Desiring to eat venison when not quite in 
season, he sent half the body of the deer that tempted 
him as a present to the prefect, who lived in the same 
town, accompanying the gift with the following note : 
"Partageons la responsabilite; chargez-vous du tern- 
j)orel; je me charge du spiriiuel" (I^et us share 
the responsibility; charge yourself with the temporal 
part; ^ will attend to the spiritual.) 

Equally felicitous is an incident recounted of Arch- 
bishop de Sanzai of Bordeaux, who was especially 
fond of the fowl which Savarin pronounced one of the 
finest gifts of the New World to the Old. Having 
won a truffled turkey on a wager from a grand vicar of 
his diocese, the archbishop, after waiting a week, be- 
came impatient at the delay of the loser in providing 
the bird. Accordingh", he took him to task and re- 
minded him that delays are dangerous, to which the 
vicar replied that the truffles were not good that year. 
"Bah, bah!" was the rejoinder, "we will chance the 
truffles; depend upon it, it is only a false report that 
has been circulated by the turkeys." 

"There needs to be two to eat a truffled turke3%" 
the Abbe INIorellet was accustomed to say; "I never 
do otherwise. I have one to-day; we will be two — 
the turkey and myself." 

It may be of interest to note that the importation 
of the turkey to Europe has been attributed by vari- 
ous scholiasts to the Jesuits, in proof of which tliey 
assert that in many French provinces it was formerly 

304. 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

termed a jesuite, and that in some of the more remote 
departments it was the custom to refer to it in the 
following manner: "Come to dine with me; we will 
have a fat jesuite." "Monsieur, will you pass me 
some of the jesuite?" It is also said to have been re- 
ferred to as a jesuite en capilotade and a jesuite an feu 
d'enfer. Savarin gives the period of its importation 
by the order in question as the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century; while the Marquis de Cussy states 
it was imported a century earlier from Paraguay by 
the Jesuits, and was served for the first time in 
public at the marriage of Charles IX of France, when, 
according to Montluc, the young king disposed of the 
left wing. 

The true date of the turkey's flight into history is 
the early part of the sixteenth century, when the 
learned confessor and historian to Cortez, Fra Aga- 
pida, returned to Spain from his first visit to jNIexico, 
and wrote a brief narrative of the wonders of the New 
World. In this account he called attention to the 
abundance of fine fish-food, and the excellence of the 
venison and a variety of "wild cattle." "There is also 
a bird," adds the discerning presbyter, "much greater 
in bigness than a peacpck, that is found within the 
forests and vegas (meadows) all over this country. 
It surpasses as food anj^^ wild bird we have found 
up to this time. The natives do shoot these birds with 
arrows and catch them in various kinds of springes and 
snares. They are sometimes very large, being as 
much as thirt}^ pounds in weight. They can fly, but 
prefer to run, which they can do with exceeding swift- 
ness." 
305 



THE PLExVSURES OF THE TABLE 

No less is the introduction of the potato from South 
America due to the monks, who first brought it to 
Europe in the proud galleons of Spain. 

In Canon Barham's "A Lay of St. Nicholas," 
where the temptations of the flesh proved stronger 
than the spiritual powers of the head of the abbey, 
turkey and chine figure as the pieces of "resistance," 
with old sherris sack, hippocras, and malmsey to flank 
them, — 

"The Abbot hath donn'd his mitre and ring, 
His rich dahnatic and maniple fine ; 
And the choristers sing as the lay-brothers bring 
To the board a magnificent turke}^ and chine." 

The capon, however, appears to have been the 
greatest favourite with the clergy; its frequent com- 
panion, the carp, doubtless owing its popularity to 
the fact that it is so easily raised, rather than that it is 
more esteemed than numerous other species of fish. 
Even more than the capon, the carp suggests the ceno- 
bites, bringing up a whole train of monastic orders — 
with the cloister and the abbey as its most congenial 
home. It is inalienably associated with the cassock 
and chasuble, the rosary and censer, the peal of the 
organ and the glory of old stained glass. It is essen- 
tially the sacred fish — the true "sole" of piety. It 
whispers of sanctity and breathes of Benedicites. In 
fancy one sees the abbot, rotund and rubicund, presid- 
ing at table, with one eye upon the fish and the other 
lifted aloft, uttering his Bonnm est confiteri ere the 
loud "Amen" resounds through the vaulted chamber, 

306 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

and carp and capon arc bathed in the red juices of 
the monastery vineyard. Or it may be a pike, a mul- 
let, or a dish of eels that, cunningly prepared by the 
master-cook of the brotherhood, steeps the refectory 
with the perfume of shallots and fine herbs, and 
justly merits a Benedic, anima mea from the partak- 
ers of the repast. 

From an anecdote related by the Franciscan Jean 
Paulli de Thann, it would appear that the olden 
monks had learned from the Scriptures a particular 
method of carving fowls when they partook of them 
in secular company. A gentleman had invited his 
confessor, who was a monk, to dine in company with 
liis wife, his two sons, and two daughters. There was 
a fine capon for the roast, which the host requested 
the guest to carve. The latter excused himself, but 
the host insisted. 

"Inasmuch as you demand it," replied the monk, 
"I will carve the fowl according to biblical princi- 
ples." 

"Yes," exclaimed the hostess, "act according to the 
Scriptures." 

The theologian therefore began the carving. The 
baron was tendered the head of the fowl, the baroness 
the neck, the two daughters a wing apiece, and the 
two sons a first joint, the monk retaining the re- 
mainder. 

"According to what interpretation do you make 
such a division?" inquired the host of his confessor, 
as he regarded the monk's heaping plate and the scant 
portions doled out to the family. 

"From an interpretation of my own," replied the 
307 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

monk. "As the master of your house, the head he- 
iongs to you by right; the baroness, being most near 
to you, should receive the neck, which is nearest the 
head; in the wings the young girls will recognize a 
symbol of their mobile thoughts, that fly from one 
desire to another; as to the young barons, the drum- 
sticks they have received will remind them that they 
are responsible for supporting your house, as the legs 
of the capon support the bird itself." 

In England, during Elizabeth's reign, fish was 
largely consimied on the festival of St. L^lric, a pious 
custom referred to by Barnaby Googe: 

"Wheresoever Huldrjche hath his place, tlie people there 

brings in 
Both carpes and pykes, and mullets fat, his favour here 

to win. 
Amid the church there sitteth one, and to the aultar nie. 
That selleth fishe, and so good cheep, that every man may 

buie; 
Nor anything he loseth here, bestowing thus his paine, 
For when it hath been offred once, 't is brought him all 

againe, 
That twise or thrise he selles the same, vngodlincsse such 

gainc 
Doth still bring in, and plenteously the kitchen doth main- 

taine. 
Whence comes this same religion ncwe? What kind of God 

is this 
Same Huldryche here, that so desires and so delightes in 

fishe?" 

With fish much is possible in the way of a generous 
dietary during the Lenten penance and on meagre 

308 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

days. To the devout Thomas a Kempis nothing was 
more dehcious to the taste than a sahnon, alwaj'^s ex- 
cepting the Psahns of David. The possibilities of a 
fish diet, howe^Tl^ have nowhere been more appre- 
ciably set forth than by Father Prout on the occasion 
of the classic "Watergrasshill Carousal," when Sir 
^Valter Scott was among the guests. And though 
the turkey which was in readiness was forgone on 
account of the day being Friday and therefore a 
fast-day, the repast, nevertheless, did not languish. 
The trout, it will be remembered, the witty priest 
had caught himself from the neighbouring stream, 
as well as a large eel from the lake at Blarney. To 
these were added from the excellent market at Cork 
a turbot, two lobsters, a salmon, and a hake, with 
a hundred of Cork-harbour oysters. Besides these 
figured also a keg of cod-sounds, a great f a\'ourite of 
the bishop of the diocese, which invariably appeared 
at the table of Father Prout when his lordship was 
expected. With eggs, potatoes, sauce piquante, lob- 
ster-sauce, w^iiskey and claret in addition, the sacer- 
dotal banquet proved a signal success, fully bearing 
out the sentiment expressed by the shepherd in the 
"Noctes" at the end of a Scottish repast, — "We 've 
just had a perfec' dinner, INIr. Tickler — neither ae 
dish ower mony, nor ae dish ower few." 

Fish naturally demands a white wine; but a carp 
may be prepared — and doubtless is prepared — so 
sauced and spiced and aromatised by practised clois- 
tral hands that a red wine, the favoured colour of 
the cowl, may accord with it perfectly. This is not 
saying that an abbot who may be as renowned for his 
309 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

gastronomic abilities as for his oratory necessarily 
confines himself or his followers to red wine with fish. 
Much will depend, of course, upon the mode of prep- 
aration, — it is to be supposed that the cellarer has 
both red and white wine at command to draw from 
as occasion demands ; to be confined to a single variety 
must be as onerous to the cloth as to the layman. 
When the celebrated vineyard of Clos-Vougeot was 
the property of the Bernardin monks, before it was 
confiscated and declared national property, Dom 
Gobelot was the father-cellarer. It was he who, after 
being forced to retire to private life at Dijon, with a 
hundred dozen bottles of a famous year of his vine- 
yard as a souvenir, proudly replied to the young Bona- 
parte, conqueror in Italy and returning from INIa- 
rengo, when he requested some old Vougeot for his 
table: "If he wishes some forty-year-old Vougeot, 
let him come and drink it here; it is not for sale." 
And does not history record that Pope Gregory XVI, 
in the year 1371, made the Abbot of Clos-Vougeot 
a cardinal to express his gratitude for a present of 
a basket of his best old wine which the abbot had 
sent him? 

The famous wine of "Est, Est, Est" owes its celeb- 
rity to a German bishop named Fuger, who, while on 
a journey to Italy, sent his secretary in advance in 
order to provide the best accommodations. He was 
especially charged to test the wine in all the inns en 
route, and wherever he found it best to write the word 
"Est" on the wall of tlie (dhergo. Arriving at ^lonte- 
fiascone, a small town on tlie highroad from Florence 
to Rome, the secretary found the wine so superior that 

310 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

he was at a loss to describe it until he bethought him 
of the inscription that a sultan of Lahore had en- 
graved on the door of his seraglio, — "If there is a 
paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!" Ac- 
cordingly, he wrote the word "Est" thrice in large 
characters on the wall of the principal inn — a fatal 
word for the bishop, who tarried so long and drank 
so freely that he died ere reaching his destination 
— Rome. His tomb exists at JMontefiascone. On 
either side of his mitre and his arms his secretary 
had carved a reversed glass, with this epitaph on 
the stone: Est, Est, Est, et propter nimium est 
Johannes de Fuger dominus metis mortuus est. 
The explanation of the epitaph and emblems is 
given by the Roman prelate, Valery. It is still fur- 
ther averred that the death of Cardinal Mauri, a distin- 
guished Italian prelate, whose remains were interred 
near those of the German bishop in the Church of St. 
Flavien, was also hastened by his fondness for the 
Montefiascone wine. The story of the bibulous bishop 
was told in 1825 in German, in a poem of fourteen 
stanzas, by Wilhelm INIiiller, father of Professor JNIax 
Miiller.^ It has also been excellently rendered in 



1 " Hart an dem Bolsener Sec, 
Auf des Flaschenberf^e.s Hoh', 
Steht ein kleiner Leichenstein 
Mit der kurzen Inschrift drein: 
Propter nimium Est, Est, 
Dominus meus mortuus est ! 



" Unter dlesem Monument, 
Wek'hes keinen Namen nennt, 
Ruht ein Herr von deutschem Blut, 
Ueutschein Schlund und deutschem Mut, 
Der hier starb den schonsten Tod — 
Seine Schuld vergeb' ihm Gott! " 

311 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

English verse by an American poetess whose name 
the efforts of the writer have been unable to trace: 

"Men liavc ridden for love, 

And men have ridden for gold, 
And men have ridden for honour 

In the chivalrous days of old. 
Little of love recked he, 

Nor honour, nor golden store, 
But the Abbot would ride for dinner, 
And he rode for good wine more. 
'I will travel the world. 
Travel the world in quest — 
Taste red, white, and yellow,' 
Cried this jolly old fellow, 
'Till I find the wine that is best.' 
Vanitas vanitorum! 

" 'INIy servant leal,' said ho, 

'Now ride thou on before. 
And drink where'er the branches 

Hang withering at the door. 
Then, if the wine be worthy. 

That I should stop at all. 
Write "est"— but if it is not, 

Write "non" upon the wall.' 

"Promptly rode the man. 

In hamlet, cit}', and town, 
Alhergo and osteria, 

He gulped the good wine down. 
Where'er the wine was worthy 

There they slept or dined, — 
Before, the trust}^ varlet, 

The lazier monk behind. 

312 



AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY 

"Among the bills and valleys, 

Festooned with wreathing vine, 
Where purple grapes and opal 

Drop red and golden wine. 
There is a wine delicious 

In a hamlet little known, 
With a taste like the mountain flower 
That blooms in spring alone. 

Here pause, O wandering Abbot! 
Thy ponderous frame can rest, 
Lo ! the prudent, observant, 
Intelligent servant 
Has written here 'Est, Est, Est.' 

*'The Abbot he drank at dinner, 

The Abbot he drank at night, 
And he called for more fiasci 

When dawned the morning light. 
He murmured, 'I go no farther, 

Per Bacco! I cease my quest; 
Wine of Hymettus sweetness. 

Nectar of gods, — est, est! 

"But even an Abbot has limits. 

Though his were exceeding wide ; 
He passed them and, as you can fancy, 

Dropped from the table and died: 
Drowned as it were in the nectar, 
Dead of the wine that is best. 
In his hand the empty wine-cup, 
His last words ^Est, est, estP 

Vanitas vanitorum! 

"This very same wine we are drinking 
To-night in classic Rome, 

313 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Sipping it after dinner 

In our quiet foreign home. 
I have told as I heard the story, 

And now the white wine that is best, 
Let us all fill a bowl of — 
Here 's peace to the soul of 

The monk of the Est, Est, EstT 

To judge of the quality of Montefiascone, one must 
drink it at its home; hke other white wines of the 
former Papal States, it w411 not bear the shock of dis- 
tant carriage. As for the German ecclesiast, one 
sliould not take him too seriously, but consider him 
rather from the picturesque point of view, as Row- 
landson and Combe have done with the reverend Syn- 
tax. "Other times, other manners," — to-day his rev- 
erence would have made the journey by rail and not 
by post, and thus, doubtless, would have missed the 
fiasci of jNIontefiascone. One must also bear in mind 
that the wine in question, being of the muscat type, 
is extremely heady and exciting to the nerves, its 
deleterious effects being masked by its unctuousness 
and engaging aroma; so that an unsuspecting beer- 
drinking bishop, accustomed to copious libations of a 
milder fluid, might readily and unwittingly find him- 
self under the table, and, even though a liierarch, 
prove an easy subject for a De Profundis. iSIany 
years have elapsed since the prelate's demise; and 
it is to be supposed that, meanwhile, the nectar of 
Est has been rendered less potent and even more 
delectable in heavenly vineyards. 



314 




PROMENADE DU GOURMAND 
Frontispiece of " Le Manuel du Gastronome ou Nouvel Almanach 
des Gonrniands " (ls30) 




SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

" Sir, Iiespect Your Dinner; idolize it, enjoy it jn-operly. You will be 
mauy hours iu the week, many weeks in the year, and many years 
in your life the luippier if you do." — Thackeray. 

A REVIEW of the dinner-table were incomplete 
without a reference to several writers, other than 
those already cited, who have wielded a more or less 
pronounced influence on gastronomy. Of such, two 
English authors deserve especial mention, each of 
whom has sought to prove that the art of the gastron- 
omer is the art of being happy; and that, if blessed 
with a. good appetite and sound digestion, one may 
round off many a corner of life's miseries. 

To Dr. William Kitchener the merit of reforming 

PiUglish cookery as it existed during the early part 

of tlie past century is due to no inconsiderable degree. 

The overladen table, with its pompous decorations, 

315 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

heavy viands, and superabundance of wines, was first 
severely censured in "The Cook's Oracle," and later 
in Thomas Walker's periodical, "The Original," 
since reprinted in book form. The first edition of 
the "Oracle" appeared in 1817; and, like ]Mrs. Glasse's 
"Art of. Cookery," was subsequently much amended 
and enlarged.^ An eccentric and would-be dietetic 
reformer, the author was ridiculed at first, as is often 
the case with those who advance new ideas or attempt 
to disturb existing conditions. "Christopher Xorth," 
whose own Pegasus was often inclined to strange cur- 
vets, reviled him as he also did Tennyson ; and Hood 
addressed him in three mock-heroic odes. But be- 
neath his mannerisms and diatribes there remained 
much practical sense, an extended culinary know- 
ledge, and no little shrewd observation. 

It was the author's endeavour to "improve plain 
cookery and to render food acceptable to the palate 
without being expensive to the purse" — a precept al- 
together admirable. The preface to the third edition 
emphasises, very truly, that among the manifold 
causes which concur to impair health and produce 
disease, the most general is the improper quality of 
food, this most frequently arising from the inju- 
dicious manner in which it is prepared. Yet it re- 
mains to be added that since the days of the "Oracle" 
man has greatly improved in this respect, even in 
England; that despite the multiplicity of diseases, 
hygiene is becoming far better understood by the 
masses; and that for the various ills arising through 

^ "The Cook's Oracle; Containing Families, etc. The Fourth Edition. 
Receipts for Plain Cookery on the London: Printed for A. Constable 
Most Economical Plan for Private & Co. 18^22." 

316 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

the stomach, chemistry and the doctors have devised 
numerous simple correctives which have proved of in- 
estimable value. 

The key-note of the "Oracle" is contained in the sen- 
tence, "Unless the stomach be in good humour, every 
part of the machinery of life must vibrate with lan- 
guor," — a sentiment with which all those who have 
touched two-score will profoundly agree. It is for 
elderly stomachs whose bloom may have been some- 
what brushed off that the doctor's counsels will be 
found preeminently deserving of attention. To the 
epicure he likewise proved an excellent mentor ; to the 
dyspeptic, a friend in need. 

That he was strongly influenced by the writings of 
Grimod de la Reyniere is readily perceptible, though 
he states in the introduction that his work is a bona- 
fide register of practical facts, and that he has not 
printed a recipe which has not been proved in his, 
own kitchen. Before undertaking his task, he had 
consulted all the treatises obtainable on the subject, 
amounting to no less than two hundred and fifty vol- 
umes. These, he asserts, vary very little from one 
another, and any one who has occasion to refer to two 
or three of them will find the recipes almost always 
the same — equally unintelligible to those who are 
ignorant, and useless to those who are acquainted with 
the business of the kitchen. The numerous "Good 
Housewife's Closets," "Ladies' Companions," and 
"Gentlewomen's Cabinets," in fact, are virtually 
identical, save for their titles and forewords. 

With the recipes of the "Oracle" the reader need not 
be as much concerned as with its spirit and its epicu- 
317 



THE PLEASUKES OF THE TABLE 

rean principles, which reveal a strongly marked in- 
dividuality, and a comprehension far in advance of 
the time in Great Britain. Oracular and discursive, 
the author ambles pleasantly along the road of Con- 
viviality, scattering his maxims and dispensing his 
formulas, while dipping into volume after volume to 
emphasise his text. The "Oracle" may be briefly de- 
scribed as a quaint medley of cookery, hygienic pre- 
cepts, science, gastronomy, and domestic economy, 
written by a bon vivant. A long chapter is devoted 
to the subject of invitations to dinner, wherein punc- 
tuality is strictly insisted upon — dining, according to 
the writer, being the only act of the day which cannot 
be put off with impunity for even five minutes. He 
would have the cook the warden in chief, as defined 
by JNIercier, a physician who cures two mortal mala- 
dies, Hunger and Thirst; or a Hominum servatorem 
— a preserver of mankind, as designated by Plautus. 
A good dinner, he maintains, is one of the greatest 
enjoyments of human life; but it should never be at 
the mercy of belated guests,— "what will be agreeable 
to the stomach and restorative to the system at five 
o'clock will be uneatable and indigestible at a quarter 
past." When he himself gave a dinner-party, the 
guests were invited for five o'clock, and at five min- 
utes after the hour specified, the street door was 
locked, and the key, by his order, was set aside. But 
it is perhaps in the chapter on advice to cooks, and 
in his directions as to the minutiae of boiling, baking, 
roasting, and frying, that he is most suggestive. A 
characteristic farewell to the reader concludes the vol- 
ume, which even to-day may be consulted with profit 

318 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

— an observation that will also apply to many por- 
tions of its companion treatise, "The Art of Invigor- 
ating and Prolonging Life." 

Less pretentious, and dealing more with the aes- 
thetic side of good living, are the essays of the 
"Original," by Thomas Walker, barrister at law and 
magistrate, which treat of the pleasures of the table 
under the titles, "The Art of Attaining High 
Health" and "The Art of Dining." ' These critical 
dissertations originally appeared iii 1835 in a weekly 
periodical of which he was the editor, the series ter- 
minating with his death the subsequent year. And 
if the influence of the "Almanach" is readily discern- 
ible in the case of Dr. Kitchener, so in like manner 
one detects a flavour of the "Physiology" in the ge- 
nial pages of Walker. Kitchener undoubtedly 
proves himself the more valiant trencherman, while 
Walker remains the more refined and philosophic 
host. 

His golden rule was, "Content the stomach and the 
stomach will content you." A little irregularity in 
agreeable company he deems better than the best ob- 
servance in solitude. When dining alone is necessary, 
however, he adds that the mind should be disposed to 
cheerfulness by a previous interval of relaxation 
from whatever has seriously occupied the attention, 
and by directing it to some agreeable object. And so 
contentment ought to be an accompaniment to every 
meal. Punctuality becomes the more essential, 
and the diner and the dinner should be read}' at tlie 

i"The Original, by the Late ited by Wm. A. Guy. London, 
Thomas Walker, M.A., Trinity Col- Henry Renshaw, 1875." 
lege, Cambridge. Fifth Edition. Ed- 

319 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

same time. Concerning dining in comfort, he holds 
that a chief maxim is to have what you want when 
you want it, and not be obhged to wait for httle ad- 
ditions to be supphed, when what they belong to is 
half or entirely finished. 

The plates should be brought in before the dish, 
and the dish and its adjuncts appear simultaneously; 
in other words, the necessary condiments should al- 
ways be at hand, and the wines should stand ready 
to be poured out at the moment required, — the 
lesson of patience, however desirable, is not a virtue 
that should be inculcated at the dinner-table; and 
prompt service must ever form a great desideratum 
of the perfect meal. In dining, more than anything 
else, perhaps, whatever is worth doing at all is worth 
doing well, though this were far from meaning that 
lavish expenditure need enter into the hospitable rela- 
tions of host and guests. Forethought and careful per- 
sonal attention, it may be reiterated, play a most im- 
portant part at the board of Good Cheer; and simple 
dishes unexceptionally prepared and served, with the 
beverages that naturally accompany them at the 
proper temperature, will garnish any table with a cloth 
of gold. "A good soup, a small turbot, a neck of veni- 
son, ducklings with green peas, or chicken with as- 
paragus, and an apricot tart," the Earl of Dudley 
was accustomed to say, "is a dinner for an emperor." 
There are those possibly who might prefer the much 
more simple menu of a French gourmet, — "A bottle 
of Chambertin, a ragout a la Sardanapale, and a 
pretty lady caiiseur, are the three best companions at 
table in France." 

320 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

But it will be rendering greater justice to the au- 
thor to permit him to speak for himself on some of 
the niceties connected with the art he has expounded 
so wisely and so well: 

"Anybody can dine, but few know how to dine so as to en- 
sure the greatest quantity of health and enjoyment" [he 
agrees with Dumas and Fayot]. "Indeed, many people con- 
trive to destroy their health; and as to enjoyment, I shudder 
when I think how often I have been doomed to only a solemn 
mockery of it ; how often I have sat in durance statel}', to go 
through the ceremony of dinner, the essence of which is to be 
w ithout ceremony, and how often in this land of liberty I have 
felt myself a slave. 

"There is in the art of dining a matter of special impor- 
tance — I mean attendance, the real end of which is to do that 
for you whicli you cannot so well do for yourself. Unfortu- 
nately, this end is generally lost sight of, and the effect of 
attendance is to prevent you from doing that which you could 
do much better for yourself. The cause of this perversion is 
to be found in tlie practice and example of the rich and osten- 
tatious, who constantly keep up a sort of war-establishment, 
or establishment adapted to extraordinary instead of ordinary 
occasions, and the consequence is that, like all potentates who 
follow the same policy, they never really taste the sweets of 
peace ; they are in a constant state of invasion by their own 
troops. It is a rule at dinners not to allow you to do anything 
for yourself, and I have never been able to understand how 
even salt, except it be from some superstition, has so long main- 
tained its place. I am rather a bold man at table and set form 
very much at defiance, so that if a salad happens to be within 
my reach, I make no scruple to take it to me ; but the moment 
I am espied, it is nipped up from the most convenient into 
the most inconvenient position. See a small party with a dish 
321 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

of fish at each end of the table, and four silver covers stand- 
ing unmeaningly at the sides, whilst everything pertaining 
to the fish conies, even with the best attendance, provokingly 
lagging, one thing after another, so that contentment is out 
of the question ; and all this is done under pretence that it is 
the most convenient plan. This is an utter fallac3\ The only 
convenient plan is to have ever3'thing actually upon the table 
that is wanted at the same time, and nothing else ; as, for ex- 
ample, for a party of eight, turbot and salmon, with doubles 
of each of the adjuncts, lobster-sauce, cucumber, young po- 
tatoes, cayenne, and Chili vinegar, and let the guests assist 
one another, which with such an arrangement they could do 
with perfect ease. This is undisturbed and visible comfort. 

"A system of simple attendance would induce a system of 
simple dinners, which are the only dinners to be desired. 
With respect to wine, it is often offered when not 
wanted; and when wanted, is perhaps not to be had till long 
waited for. It is dreary to observe two guests, glass in hand, 
waiting the butler's leisure to take wine together, and then 
perchance being helped in despair to' what they did not ask 
for ; and it is still more dreary to be one of the two yourself. 
How different when you can put your hand on a decanter the 
moment you want it ! 

"Perhaps the most distressing incident in a grand dinner" 
[the author continues] "is to be asked to take champagne, 
and after much delay to see the butler extract the bottle from 
a cooler, and hold it nearly parallel to the horizon in order to 
calculate how much he is to put into the first glass to leave 
any for the second. To relieve him and 3'ourself from the 
chilling difficulty, the only alternative is to change your mind 
and prefer sherry, which, under the circumstances, has rather 
an awkward effect. These and an infinity of minor evils are 
constantly experienced amidst the greatest displays. Some 
good bread and cheese and a jug of ale comfortably set be- 

322 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

fore me, and heartily given, are heaven and earth in compari- 
son. . . . The legitimate objects of dinner arc to refresh 
the body, to please the palate, and to raise the social humour 
to the highest point; but these objects, so far from being 
studied, in general arc not even thought of, and display and 
an adherence to fashion are their meajxre substitutes." 



To be niggardly with one's champagne we have 
already alluded to as despicable. Yet the amount 
of this wine that may be dispensed at dinner should 
depend on the cellar of the entertainer; and where 
Yquem or a grand Deidesheimer, Lafite, or I^a 
Tache of well-succeeded years is also to figure, it is 
wise for the host to let the fact be known, and for him 
to curtail the flow of sparkling wine, in order that 
proper justice may be rendered to its companions. 
On this subject the "Original" again proves itself a 
valuable sign-board, and its doctrine as to the conduct 
of the dinner forms a tenet worthy of all praise,- — 
"If the master of a feast wishes his party to succeed, 
he must know how to command and not let his guests 
run riot, each according to his own wild fancy." We 
cannot agree with the "Original" and some others that 
it is correct to serve a sparkling wine, to the exclusion 
of all others, throughout an extended repast. The 
palate and the eye weary of a single beverage, how- 
ever brilliant the vintage, and yearn for a contrast 
in flavour and colour. 

Simplicity is constantly urged throughout "The 

Art of Dining," and again and again does the author 

insist upon the necessity of having whatever dish tliat 

may be served preceded by all its minor adjuncts, and 

323 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

accompanied by all the proper vegetables quite hot, 
so that it may be enjoyed entirely and at once. The 
liquid accessories he would have placed upon the table 
in such a manner as to be as much as possible within 
the reach of each person; and as ^lathew Bramble, 
in "Humphrey Clinker," talks, in his delights of rural 
life, of eating trout struggling from the stream, so 
he would have his dishes served glowing or steam- 
ing from the kitchen, a (jualit}' which lends a relish 
otherwise impossible. 

"There arc two kinds of dinners " [he goes on to say] — 
"one simple, consisting of a few dishes, the other embracing 
a variety. Both kinds are good in their way, and both de- 
serve attention ; but for constancy I greatly prefer the sim- 
ple style. ... In the first place, it is necessary not to be 
afraid of not having enough, and so to go into the other 
extreme and have a great deal too much, as is almost invaria- 
bly the practice. It is also necessar}' not to be afraid of the 
table looking bare, and so to crowd it with dishes not wanted, 
whereby they become cold and sodden. 'Enough is as good 
as a feast' is a sound maxim, as well in providing as in eating. 
The having too much, and setting dishes on the table merely 
for appearance, are practices arising out of prejudices which, 
if once broken through, would be looked upon, and deservedly, 
as the height of vulgarity. The excessive system is a great 
preventive of hospitality, by adding to the expense and 
trouble of entertaining, whilst it has no one advantage. It 
is only pursued by the majority of people for fear of being 
unlike the rest of the world." 

Every gastronomer will endorse the sentiment that 
in proportion to the smallness of a dinner ought to be 
its excellence, both as to the quality of materials and 

324 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

the cooking. Nor is there less truth in the complaint 
that it is an existing evil that everybody is prone to 
stri\'e after the same dull style — the rule generally 
followed being to consider what the guests are accus- 
tomed to; whereas it should be reversed, and what 
they are not accustomed to should rather be set before 
them. This stricture he apj^lies to the serving of 
wines as well as of viands — "we go on in the beaten 
track without profiting by the varieties which are to 
be found on every side." To order dinner well he 
defines as a matter of invention and combination, 
involving novelty, simplicity, and taste; whereas in 
the generality of dinners there is no character but that 
of dull routine, according to the season. Too little 
attention, he complains, is paid to the mode of din- 
ing according to the time of the year, summer dinners 
being for the most part as heavy and as hot as those 
in winter, with the consequence of being frequently 
very oppressive, both in themselves and from their 
effect on the room. In hot ^veather the chief thinsf to 
be aimed at is to produce a light and cool feeling, 
both by the management of the room and the nature 
of the repast; in winter, warmth and substantial diet 
afford the most satisfaction. 

It may be held with reason that some of the incon- 
veniences pointed out with reference to service could 
be obviated by the service a la Riisse — discarding its 
medley of dishes on the table, and utilising its fea- 
tures of carving and serving. But Walker's great 
aim was that of a simple style of dinner-giving to a 
select few whose number lie wcnild limit to eiglit. 
Under these circumstances it is easy to understand 
325 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

how it were more appetising to dispense with any 
dishes in waiting ^^'hich serve to cloy ratlier than to 
stimulate appetite, and more advantageous to have the 
caning performed by the master himself. At a 
men's dinner, more especially, where a saddle of mut- 
ton, a haunch of venison, or other roast forms the 
2)iece dc resistance, and where, therefore, "cut and 
come again" is the motto of the hour, the less formal 
style is certainly preferable, and productive of the 
best results to the guests. 

It is only on one occasion that we find him ^^^aver- 
ing in the dogmas he advances so emphatically and 
withal so aptly, this incertitude occurring in connec- 
tion with a dinner he had ordered at Blackwall, the 
menu of which may be appropriately transcribed as 
a practical illustration of his ideas on gastronomy : 

"The party will consist of seven men beside myself, and 
every guest is asked for some reason — upon which good fel- 
lowship mainly depends ; for people brought together uncon- 
nectedly had, in my opinion, better be kept separate. Eight 
I hold to be the golden number, never to be exceeded without 
weakening the efficacy of concentration. The dinner is to con- 
sist of turtle, followed by no other fish but whitebait, which 
is to be followed by no other meat but grouse, which are to 
be succeeded simpl}^ by apple-fritters and jelly; pastry on 
such occasions being quite out of place. With the turtle of 
course there will be punch, with the whitebait champagne, and 
with the grouse claret : the two former I have ordered to be 
particularly well iced, and the}^ will all be placed in succession 
on the table, so that we can help ourselves as we please. I 
will permit no other wines, unless, perchance, a hottle or two 
of port, if particularly wanted, .as I hold variety of wines a 

326 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

great mistake. With respect to the adjuncts, I shall take 
care that there is cayenne, with lemons cut in halves, not in 
quarters, within reach of every one for the turtle, and that 
brown bread and butter in abundance is set upon the table for 
the whitebait. The dinner will be followed by ices and a good 
dessert, after which coffee and one glass of liqueur each, and 
no more." 

Surely, an excellent repast, if the cooking was all 
that could have been desired, as the author happily in- 
forms the reader was the case. But in his comments 
on the dinner occurs this qualifying sentence,— 
"There was an opinion broached that some flounders, 
water-zoutcheed, between the turtle and wliitebait 
would have been an improvement"; and, for once, 
the "Original" proves vacillating, and adds — "Per- 
haj^s they would." Yet, if we are to believe no less an 
authority than Thackeray, the dish under considera- 
tion is one for which room may always be appropri- 
ately found — a dish that, when well prepared, pos- 
sesses ambrosial qualities. He is discoursing of a 
flounder-souchy in the sketch entitled, "Greenwich 
Whitebait" ; and one's mouth fairly waters as he reads 
it: "It has an almost angelic delicacy of flavour; 
it is as fresh as the recollections of childhood — it 
wants a Correggio's pencil to describe it with sufficient 
tenderness." 

The recipe for a water-souchy is thus given by 
Kitchener, to be made with flounders, whiting, gud- 
geons, or eels: 

"After cutting the fish in handsome pieces, place them in 
a stewpan with as much water as will cover them, with some 

327 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

parsley or parsley roots sliced, an onion minced fine, and a 
little pepper and salt, to which sometimes scraped horseradish 
and a bay-leaf are added. Skim carefully when boiling, and 
when the fish is sufficiently done send it up in a deep dish 
lined with bread sippets, and some slices of bread and butter 
on a plate. Some cooks thicken the liquor the fish lias been 
stewing in with fiour and butter, and flavour it with white 
wine, lemon juice, essence of anchovy, and catsup, and boll 
down two or three flounders to make a fish broth to boil the 
other fish in, observing that the broth cannot be good unless 
the fish are boiled too much." 

This does not sound as palatable as a sole cm gratin 
or en matelote Nonnande, or even whitebait — that 
"little means of obtaining a great deal of pleasure"; 
but one can scarcely forget Thackeray's sentence, 
even if his appreciation may have been heightened 
by the surroundings of the Ship Tavern and conge- 
nial companionship. 

Nearly ten years after ^Valker's day we find 
Thackeraj^ also condemning many similar evils: 

"I would have" [he urges, and the advice is still pertinent] 
— "a great deal more hospitality and less show. Everybody 
has the same dinner in London, and the same soup, and the 
same saddle of mutton, boiled fowls and tongue, entrees, 
champagne, and so forth. Who does not know those made 
dishes with the universal sauce to each : f ricandeau, sweet- 
breads, damp dumpy cutlets, etc., seasoned with the compound 
of grease, onions, bad port wine, cayenne pepper, and curry- 
powder, the poor wiry Moselle and sparkling Burgundy in 
the ice-coolers, and the old story of white and brown soup, 
turbot, little smelts, boiled turkey, and saddle of mutton.'' 
. What I would recommend with all my power is that 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

dinners sliould be more simple, more frequent, and slioiild con- 
tain fewer persons. Ten is the utmost number that a man of 
moderate means should ever invite to his table ; although in 
a great house managed by a great establishment the case may 
be different. A man and a woman may look as if they were 
glad to see ten people ; but in a great dinner they abdicate 
their position as host and hostess, — are mere creatures in 
the hands of the sham butlers, sham footmen, and tall con- 
fectioners' emissaries who crowd the room, — and are guests 
at their own table, where they are helped last, and of which 
they occupy the top and bottom." 

Thackeray has written frequently on the pleasures 
of the table, and his name may well figure in the an- 
nals of gastronomy as one of its shining lights, if only 
for his^ delicious essays "JNIemorials of Gormandising" 
and "On Some Dinners at Paris," to which in their 
entirety the reader is referred. 

Still later, Charles Dickens keenly satirises the ex- 
isting pomp and the lack of simplicity of the English 
table, notably among the higher classes, where he finds 
so much Powder in waiting that it flavours the repast, 
pulverous particles getting into the dishes, and So- 
ciety's meats having a seasoning of first-rate footmen 
— society having everything it could want, and could 
not want, for dinner. 

Perhaps in no connection with the art of which 
the "Original" treats is the advice more practical 
than in the remarks on varietj^ with which the refer- 
ence to Walker may be terminated : 

"Although I like, as a rule, to abstain from much variety 
at the same meal, I think it both wholesome and agreeable to 
329 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

vary the food on (liff'ercnt days, botli as to tlie materials and 
mode of dressing them. The palate is better pleased and 
the digestion more active, and the food, I believe, assimilates 
in a greater degree with the system. The productions of 
the different seasons and of different climates point out to 
us unerringly tliat it is proper to vary our food ; and one 
good general rule I take to be, to select those tilings which are 
most in season, and to abandon them as soon as they begin 
to deteriorate in quality. ]Most people mistake the doctrine 
of variety in their mode of living; they have great variety at 
the same meals, and great sameness at different meals. These 
agreeable varieties are never met with, or even thought of, 
in the formal routine of society, though they contribute 
much, when appropriately devised, to the enjoyment of a 
party. With respect to variety of vegetables, I think the 
same rule applies as to other dishes. I would not liavc many 
sorts on the same occasion, but would study appropriateness 
and particular excellence. One of the greatest luxuries, to 
my mind, in dining is to be able to command plenty of good 
vegetables, well served up. Excellent potatoes, smoking hot, 
and accompanied by melted butter of the first quality, would 
alone stamp merit on any dinner ; but they are as rare on 
state occasions, so served, as if they were of the cost of 
pearls." 

It may be subjoined to the many pertinent observa- 
tions respecting the duties of the entertainer, that so 
far as it is within his power he should consider his 
guests individually, weighing their personal likes and 
dislikes to such extent as may comport with the gen- 
eral welfare. The first thing he should recognise as 
his imperative duty is to please. Yet while a surprise 
in the components of the dinner is to be desired, the 
choice of dishes should nevertheless be made with ref- 

330 




LA TABLE 
Frontispiece of the Second Canto of " Ln Conversation" of the Abb^ Delille, 1S22 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

erence to the taste of the majority, in distinction 
one's own preference or the predilections of the fe^ 
AYith the stiff and formal dinner, or with large dinner- 
parties, fine discrimination is less practicable, these 
functions being necessaril}'^ a burden to all concerned. 
Lcs diners fins se font en petits comites; and, equally, 
in informal gatherings. The deft hand and nice 
judgment may be thoroughly manifested only among 
intimate friends, where the personality of the master 
may guide and direct, free from the trammels of con- 
ventionality. Then that false etiquette which pre- 
scribes that the entertainer should never rise from the 
table may be waived; and wliere lie may enhance the 
pleasure of his friends by an inpromptu visit to the 
wine-cellar in pursuit of some special vintage that 
the moment calls for, or carry out a happy thought 
that the occasion ma}^ create, it is his bounden duty 
to perform for himself what others may not perform 
as well, or perform not at all. With the absence of 
formality, the wit may rise to the full height of his 
genius, the humorist may shine, and the accomplished 
and graceful liar draw a treble measin*e of delight 
from the font of a genial and exuberant fancy. 

"The Art of Dining" also forms the title of a work 
by the scholarly essayist Abraham Hayward, a re- 
arrangement of two articles he had contributed to the 
"Quarterly Review" in 1835 and 1836.' By few 
writers lias the subject been treated so invitingly. 
There is no taint of grossness throughout his review; 
and if it be true that next to partaking of a good din- 

1 "The Art of Diiiinu-, or Gastronomy and Gastronomers. London: 
John Murray, Albemarle Street, 18 j-i." l-imo, pp. 137. 

331 



THE TLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

iier is to read about one, Ave must thank him for the 
enjoyment he has eontributed. A distinguished 
seholar and epieure, he had travelled widely, and was 
equally at home in the Freneh and English eai)itals. 
All the celebrated restaurants, chefs, and maitres- 
d'hotel of Paris were familiar to him, while few have 
shown themselves as conversant with the literature of 
his theme. He had, moreover, an entree into the most 
distinguished circles; and, last but not least, possessed 
a marvellous memory to recall the people he had met, 
and the dinners and festivities at which he had assisted 
— with the bon-mots, repartees, and anecdotes that 
the popping of corks without nmnber had set free. 
As a raconteur, with an unlimited repertory of inci- 
dents concerning the notables who were prominent 
in society, politics, and gastronomy, he is said to have 
been unsurpassed. 

His subject, he states, has been discussed with the 
object of facilitating convivial enjoyment and promot- 
ing sociability; and in these matters he will be found 
both a brilliant causeur and connoisseur. Passing by 
his anecdotal review of Parisian cookery, his reference 
to the simple expedients by which the success of a din- 
ner may be insured will serve to show his resources, 
and his grasp of the practical side of the topic: 

"We have seen Painter's turtle prepare the way for a suc- 
cess which was crowned by a lark pudding. We have seen a 
kidney dumpling perform wonders ; and a noble-looking 
shield of Canterbury brawn from Groves's diffuse a sensation 
of unmitigated delight. One of Moroll's Montanchcs hams, 
or a woodcock pie from Bavier's of Boulogne, would be a sure 

332 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

card ; but a liomc-niade partridge pic would be more likely to 
come upon your company by surprise, provided a beefsteak 
be put over as well as under the birds, and the birds be placed 
with their breasts downwards in the dish. Game or wild fowl 
is never better than broiled ; and a boiled shoulder of mut- 
ton, or boiled duck or pheasant, might alone found a reputa- 
tion. A still more original notion was struck out by a party 
of eminent connoisseurs who entertained the Right Hon. Sir 
Henry Ellis at Fricoeur's, just before he started on his Per- 
sian embassy. They actually ordered a roasted turbot, and 
were boasting loudly of the success of the invention when a 
friend of ours had the curiosity to ask M. Fricoeur in what 
manner he set about the dressing of the fish. 'Why, sare, 
yoli no tell ; we no roast him at all ; we put him in oven and 
bake him.' " 

Some there are who would seriously object to boiled 
mutton as opposed to roast, and who assuredly would 
cry out in horror at a duck or game-bird boiled. Yet 
boiled mutton with capers is orthodox — like corned 
beef and cabbage, or the Rindfleisch with horse-rad- 
ish sauce, which blends so well with the jNIiinchner 
where one meets it in the middle of the day in Ger- 
many. A broiled teal, wood-duck, or butterball, by 
all means; but a roast canvasback, redhead, or mal- 
lard in preference always. 

"Marrowbones are always popular" [the author con- 
tinues]. "So is a well-made devil or a broil. When a picture 
of the Dutch school, representing a tradesman in a passion 
with his wife for bringing up an underdone leg of mutton, 
was shown to the late Lord Hertford, his lordship's first 
remark was, 'What a fool that fellow is not to see that he 
may have a capital bi'oil !' A genuine hurc de sanglier, or 

333 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TAEEE 

wild hoar's head, would tlcvate the j)laiiK'st dinner into dig- 
nity. The comparative merits of pies and puddlnf^s j)rcscnt1 
a problem which it is no easy matter to decide. On the whole, 
we give the preference to puddings, as affording more scope 
to tlie inventive genius of the cook. A plum-pudding, 
for instance, our national dish, is hardly ever boiled enough. 
A green apricot tart is conuuonly considei'ed the best tart 
that is made; but a green apricot pudding is a much better 
thing. A cherry dumpling is better than a cherry tart. A 
beefsteak pudding, again, is better than the corresponding 
pie; but oysters and mushrooms are essential to its success. 
A mutton-chop pudding with oysters, l)ut without mush- 
rooms, is excellent." 

Never having tried the last-mentioned "remove," 
the writer is willing to trust to its excellence, and to 
the general good taste of Hayward. But one has his 
doubts sometimes, the proof of the pudding being in 
the eating; and possibly a mutton-chop and oj^ster 
compound may he spoiling two things intrinsically 
good in themselves, and the dish deserve to be placed 
in the same category with a boiled pheasant or a wild 
fowl. jNIoreover, what may taste or a23pear excellent 
in one place does not always appear the same in 
another, this holding true with many things besides 
dishes, which may be affected by the climate, the sur- 
roundings, or one's mood at the time. 

The topic of fish is particularly well treated bj'' 
Hayward. On the subject of game, he has this to 
say concerning a native marsli-bird of the sandpiper 
tribe, highly prized for its eggs and flesh, wliicli has 
become even yet more rare with the draining of the 
English meres and fens: 

334 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

"Ruffs and reeves are little known to the public at large, 
though honourable mention is made of them by Bewick. 
The season for them is August and September. They are 
found in fenny countries (those from Whittlesea Meer in 
Lincolnshire are best), and must be taken alive and fattened 
on boiled wheat or bread and milk mixed with hemp-seed, for 
about a fortnight, taking good care never to put two males 
to feed together, or they will fight a Voutrance. Prince 
Talleyrand was extremely fond of ruffs and reeves, his regular 
allowance during the season being two a day : they are 
dressed like woodcocks. These birds arc worth nothing in 
their wild state ; and the art of fattening them is traditionally 
said to have been discovered by the monks in Yorkshire, where 
they are still in high favour with the clerical profession, as 
a current anecdote \\'\\\ show. At a grand dinner at Bishop- 
thorpe (in Archbishop Markham's time) a dish of ruffs and 
reeves chanced to be placed immediately in front of a young 
divine who had come up to be examined for priest's orders, 
and was considerately (or, as it turned out, inconsiderately) 
asked to dinner by his grace. Out of sheer modesty, the cleri- 
cal tyro confined himself exclusively to the dish before him, 
and persevered in his indiscriminating attentions to it till one 
of the resident dignitaries (all of whom were waiting only 
the proper moment to participate) observed him, and called 
the attention of the company by a loud exclamation of alarm. 
But the warning came too late : the ruffs and reeves had van- 
ished to a bird, and with them, we are concerned to add, all 
the candidate's hopes of Yorkshire preferment are said to 
have vanished too. 

"A similar anecdote is current touching wheatears, which, 
in our opinion, are a greater delicacy. A Scotch ofl^ccr was 
dining with the late Lord George Lennox, then connnandant 
at Portsmouth, and was placed near a dish of wheatears, which 
was rapidly disappearing under his repeated attacks. Lady 

335 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Louisa Lennox tried to divert his attention to another dish. 
'Na, na, mv leddy,' was the reply, 'those wee birdies will do 
verra weel.' " 

In vivid contrast to the works of Walker and Hay- 
ward is a volume entitled "Apician iNIorsels" (Lon- 
don, 1829), wherein the author, who veils his identity 
under a facetious j^seudonym, lias unblushingly 
garbled whole chapters from the old historians, the 
"Almanach," and various writers, interspersed with 
coarse stories of gluttony. It is to l)e deplored that 
La Reyniere cannot arise from his final resting- 
place to administer the castigation the author deserves. 
From him it is refreshing to turn to the "Dipsychus" 
of Arthur Hugh Clough and read his animated poem, 
"Le Diner," with its resonant refrain which, strangely, 
has been omitted from the later editions: 

"Come along, 't is the time, ten or more minutes past. 
And he who came first had to wait for the last. 
The oysters ere this had been in and been out ; 
While I have been sitting and thinking about 

How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho ! 

How pleasant it is to have money ! 

"A clear soup with eggs; voila tout; of the fish 
The filets de sole are a moderate dish 
A la Orly, but you 're for red mullet, you say. 
By the gods of good fare, who can question to-day 
How pleasant it is, etc. 

"After oysters, Sauternc ; then sherry ; champagne : 
Kre one bottle goes, comes another again ; 

336 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

Fly up, thou bold cork, to the ceiling above, 
And tell to oui* ears in the sounds that we love 
How pleasant it is, etc. 

"I 've the simplest of tastes ; absurd it may be, 
But I almost could dine on a poulet au riz, 
Fish and soup and omelette, and that — but the deuce — 
There were to be woodcocks, and not charlotte russe! 
So pleasant it is, etc. 

"Your Chablis is acid, away with the Hock, 
Give me the pure juice of the purple Medoc; 
St. Peray is exquisite; but, if you please. 
Some Burgundy first, before tasting the cheese. 
So pleasant it is, ietc. 

"As for that, pass the bottle, and hang the expense — 
I 've seen it observed by a writer of sense 
That the labouring classes could scarce live a day 
If people like us did n't eat, drink, and pay. 
So useful it is, etc. 

"One ought to be grateful, I quite apprehend. 
Having dinner and supper and plenty to spend. 
And so, suppose now, while the things go away, 
By way of a grace we all stand up and say. 

How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho \ 
How pleasant it is to have money !" 

To English guides, so far as the metropolis is con- 
cerned, should be added Lieutenant-Colonel Newn- 
ham Davis' recent volume — a veritable JNIurray to 
the table of London.^ In this gossipy and sprightly 

1 "Dinners and Diners, Where and larged and Revised Edition. Lon- 
HowtoDine in I>ondon. By Lieut.- don: Grant Richards, 1901." Chap- 
Col. Newnham Davis. A New En- ters liii, pp. 376. 

337 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABEE 

manual one may dine by proxy in nearly all the lead- 
ing restaurants as well as in many of the more Bohe- 
mian resorts. The appointments and sin-roundings of 
each are pictm-esquely set forth, with the exact menu 
and price of each dinner, together with an occasional 
recipe of some distinguished foreign master of the 
range, or a dish for which a restaurant is especially 
renowned. And while one may marvel at the writer's 
facile receptivity for an almost unvaried round of vin- 
tage champagnes, and sympathise with him in the fre- 
quent iteration of certain dishes, one must recognise, 
nevertheless, that if the dinners he discussed as an offi- 
cial representative of the "Pall INIall Gazette" could 
be duplicated by the average diner, London were not 
to be despised as a stamping-ground for the accom- 
plished gastronomer. The author does not hesitate 
to criticise, though his exceptions are usually in the 
nature of a sauce piquante, rather than a drastic condi- 
ment; and it is evident in the majoritj^ of the feasts 
he passes under review — now with a boon companion, 
and now with a pretty and well-gowned causeuse — 
that the special resources of the chef and maitre-d'ho- 
tel, who are duly introduced to the reader, have been 
brought into Aladdin-like play for his special delecta- 
tion. The Benedict will doubtless envy him his petits- 
diners with so varied a menu of charming women to 
stimulate his appetite and share his champagne and 
enircmets de douceur; the bachelor w^ill recognise how 
a prolonged series of such dinners with supplementary 
flowers, a loge at the theatre, and a concluding supper 
swell tlie addition, and render rising with the lark or 
any attention to business the following morning ut- 

338 



SUNDRY GTHDES TO GOOD CHEER 

terly beyond the compass of mortal po\\'ei'. To assist 
in a repast with Colonel Davis, however, is to be as- 
sured of dining excellently in London, with pleasant 
company and a double assurance of the truth of the 
aphorism, that one can never grow old at table. 

Reference has already been made to numerous 
French minor writers on gastronomy; among whom 
should not be omitted the name of the eminent Dr. 
Reveille-Parise, author of several works on hygiene, 
whose dissertation on the oyster, presented w4th all 
the charm that a brilliant style and profound erudi- 
tion may impart, is unrivalled in the language.^ 

jNIuch has naturally been said, both by English and 
by I'rench writers, concerning the restaurant. The 
celebrated Dr. Veron, who was nearly always accus- 
tomed to dine at a restaurant in preference to din- 
ing at his own home, gave these as his reasons: 

"In your own home the soup is on the table at a certain 
liour, the roast is taken off the jack, the dessert is spread out 
on the sideboard. Your servants, in order to get more time 
over their meals, hurry you up ; they do not serve you, they 
gorge you. At the restaurant, on the contrary, they are 
never in a hurry, they let you wait, and, besides, I always 
tell the waiters not to mind me ; that I like being kept a long 
while — that is one of the reasons why I come here. Another 
thing, at the restaurant the door is opened at every moment 
and something happens. A friend, a chum, or a mere ac- 
quaintance comes in ; one chats and laughs : all this aids diges- 
tion. A man ought not to make digestion a business apart. 
He ought to dine and digest at the same time, and nothing 
aids this (hial function Hke good conversation. Perhaps the 

1 "L'Hygiene des Hommes livres aux Travaux de I'Esprit." 

339 



THE PLExVSURES OF THE TABLE 

servant of MjuIhuk" dc Maintciion, wIk-ii tlu- latter was still 
Madame Scarroii, was a greater philosopher than we suspect 
when he whispered to his mistress, 'Madame, the roast has 
run short ; f^ive them another story-' " 

It was after a dinner in a Fifth Avenue restaurant, 
at which terra2)in and '89 Pol Roger, canvashack, and 
'78 Haut-Bailly figured, that while smoking his 
Vuelta-Abajo — impressed with the excellence of the 
repast, and smitten at the thought of his absent 
ones — the host observed to his companions, "Hea- 
vens! how I wish I could afford to treat my family 
to a dinner like this!" The stomach also has its con- 
science. But Thackeray has covered precisely such a 
case in the essay, "On some Dinners at Paris." 
"What is the use," he asks, "of having your children, 
who live on roast mutton in the nursery, to sit down 
and take the best three-fourths of a perdreau iruffe 
with you? AVhat is the use of helping your wife, 
who does n't know the difference between sherry and 
]\Iadeira, to a glass of priceless Romance or sweetly 
odoriferous Chateau Lafite of '42?" 

Besides his sonnets "Le Toast" and "Barriere du 
INIaine," Charles jNIonselet has written most enter- 
tainingly of the restaurant under the title, "Les 
Cabinets Particuliers," a sketch which figured in "Le 
Double Almanach Gourmand" of 1866, of which he 
was the editor for several years. In tliis publication 
appeared Albert Glatigny's "Rue des Poitevins," 
one of several poems with the restaurant as their 
theme, the stanzas being not unworthy of the melodi- 
ous lyre of "Les Vignes Folles" and "Les Fleches 
d'Or'': 

340 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

"C'est le vieux restaurant oii vont les ccolicrs 
Qui n'ont point submerges Ics cols brises encore. 
Dans I'atmosphere chaude et franche on voit eclore, 
Entre deux brocs de vin des refrains cavaliers. 

"Les peintres, les rimeurs, — Icurs soucis oublies, — 
Y vont rire Ic soir d'un bon rire sonore, 
Et pour mon conipte, moi dans mon for, jc ni'honore 
D'avoir allegrement grimpe ses escaliers. 

"Des escaliers du temps de la serrurerie, 
Larges, la rampc en fer, ouvrages, bien dalles, 
Donnant sur un cour propre a la reverie. 

"Maison Laveur ! liier, c'etait la qu'attables 
Devant la soupe aux choux, nous guettions, mon Lemoyne, 
La petite servante aux rongeurs de pivoine." 

The student of Glatigny, who must always admire 
the rhythm and melody of his JNIuse, will also remem- 
ber his quaint sonnet published in "Gilles et Pas- 
quins," entitled "INIonselet devoured by the Lobsters." 
The works of Henri IMurger are replete with epu- 
lary sketches of the old Latin Quarter of Paris, a 
district from which Victor Hugo has also drawn. 
Theodore de Banville has likewise depicted many a 
picturesque restaurant scene in his airj'' "Odes Fu- 
nambulesques." The lyrists, too, have not been un- 
mindful of the poetry of the kitchen. 

jNIany visitors to Paris will remember dining at 

Bignon's, and doubtless will equally recall the figiu-es 

of the addition. Of this restaurant, whose carte 

was devoid of prices, it was said that a man who dined 

341 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

at the corner table for a period of j'ears became a 
cosmopolite — in every capital of Europe he would 
be recognised and feted; for that matter, he did not 
need to rise from his chair, as all Europe would pass 
in review before him. 

A provincial dining there in April, on perceiving 
melons on the card, ordered one. "What!", he ex- 
claimed, after examining his bill, "thirty francs for 
a melon! You are joking!" 

"JNIonsieur," replied Bignon, "if you can find me 
three or four at the same price, I will buy them imme- 
diately." 

"Fifteen francs for a peach?" inquired Prince 
Narischkin; "they must be very scarce." 

"It is n't the peaches that are scarce, mon prince; it 
is the Narischkins." 

"^Monsieur Bignon, a red herring at two and a half 
francs! It seems to me that is excessive." 

"But these prices are marked in your interest," re- 
joined the restaurateur. "It is the barrier I have es- 
tablished between my clients and the vulgar. Why 
do you come here? To be among yourselves, to avoid 
embarrassing or compromising surroundings. If I 
changed my prices, the house would be invaded, and 
you would all leave." 

Another patron who complained of a sauce was 
asked, "Did you dine here last evening?" 

"No," he replied. 

"That is the trouble, then; you spoiled your taste 
in the other restaurant." 

Still another guest objected to the charges on his 
bill, comparing it with an identical breakfast of a 

342 



SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER 

few days previous which amounted to eighteen and a 
half francs, whereas the breakfast in question was 
charged twenty-one francs, eighty centimes, 

"I will investigate the mistake," said Bignon, who, 
with the two bills, proceeded to the desk, returning 
shortly afterwards. 

"It is very true, Monsieur, that a mistake was made 
in your favour last JNIonday ; but I make no claim for 
restitution !" 

Do the anecdotes and cook-books and treatises on 
eating and drinking savour of gluttony to some who 
eat only to live, and who are lacking in the finesse of 
Good Cheer? Let all such consult a volume written 
by one of the gentler sex, and hearken to her admir- 
able definition of the Tenth Muse : 

"Glutton}^ is ranked with the deadly sins ; it should be hon- 
oured among tlie cardinal Aartues. To-day women, as a rule, 
think all too little of the joys of eating; they hold lightly 
the treasures that should prove invaluable. They refrain to 
recognise that there is no less art in eating well than in paint- 
ing well or writing well. For the gourmaiide, or glutton, 
duty and amusement go hand in hand. IMind and body alike 
are satisfied. The good of a pleasantly planned dinner out- 
balances the evil of daily trials and tribulations. By artistic 
gluttony, beauty is increased, if not actually created. Re- 
joice in the knowledge that gluttony is the best cosmetic. 
Gross are they who see in eating and drinking nought but 
grossness. Gluttony is a vice only when it leads to stupid, 
inartistic excess." ^ 

1 "The Feasts of Autolycus — The don: John Lane. New York: The 
Diary of a Greedy Woman. Edited Merriam Co. 1896"." 
by Elizabeth Robins Pennell. Lon- 



34.3 




OF SAUCES 



' Je la redowte, cette sauce. Avec elle on maugerait toujours. La 
lecture seule de sa recette doiine faim." 

Barox Brisse : La Petite Cuisine. 



THE supreme triumph of the French cuisine con- 
sists in its sauces; for nothing can so varj' the 
routine of daily cookery as the different combinations 
of herbs and seasonings that may be utihsed by a com- 
petent artist as an adjimct and a finish to a dish. 
King's "Art of Cookery" has admirably versified the 
mission of the sauce : 



"The spirit of each dish and zest of all 
Is what ino-cnious cooks the Relish call ; 
For though the market sends in loads of food, 
They all are tasteless till that makes them good." 

344 




A SUPPER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
From the eiigi'aving after Masquclier 



OF SAUCES 

As without flattery there were no society, so without 
sauces there were no gastronomy. Properly prepared, 
with a thorough understanding of the hygienic nature 
of flavourings and their harmony with reference to 
the special viands they are to enhance, a finely com- 
2)osed sauce is a digestive as well as a stimulus to the 
organs of taste. No better illustration of the qualities 
of a perfect sauce occurs in the annals of the art than 
that of Baron Brisse, which refers to sauce bearnaise, 
and La Reyniere's comment on anchovy sauce, — 
"Lorsque cette sauce est hien traittee, elle ferait man- 
ger un elephant" This is La Reyniere's recipe, in- 
cluding its proper belongings, as given in the sixth 
year of the " Almanach": 

"The anchovy figures as a stimulant and aperient in a 
great number of sauces, whose presence imparts to them 
their principal virtues. Such are the sauces a VAllemande, 
a Vanchois, aux cdpres, etc. ; we shall confine ourselves to the 
recipe of that which bears its name. Anchovy sauce is pre- 
pared by first carefully washing the anchovies in vinegar ; the 
bones are tlien removed, the fish fine!}- minced and placed in 
a stewpan with a clear coulis ^ of veal and ham, pepper, salt, 
nutmeg, and fine spices; after heating reduce to the proper 
consistence and give it the finishing touch. This sauce serves 
for the roast. The anchovy plays the principal role in the 
sauce served with roast sirloin of beef and hare a la broche. 
It is made with their juices and a little bouillon, anchovies 
coarsely chopped, capers, fine herbs, tarragon, pepper, salt, 
and vinegar. With this sauce well prepared, one might eat 
an elephant. 

^ Coulis — a thick g:ravy, and also a term formerly applied 
to the fundamental sauces. 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"Anchovy sauce is also employed in several sorts of gravies, 
and one may sa}"^ that it is not misplaced in any piquante 
sauce; for it is in itself an excellent cpigramme. It follows 
from these remarks that the anchovy is an indispensable ad- 
junct to good cheer. Its body figures admirably for the 
dejeuner and with the hors-d'oeuvres, and its spirit makes 
itself distinctly felt in all sauces that it permeates. It im- 
parts to them a savour which stimulates the appetite and 
agreeably captivates the palate." 

In the middle ages the office of the saucier^ or master 
sauce-maker, \vas in\ ested with great importance. A 
chief functionary in all grand houses, under him were 
clerks, varlets, and youths termed galopins de saucerie, 
who stood ever ready to do his bidding. Old wood- 
cuts depict him presiding over his receptacles — as im- 
posing in his dignity as the master-cancer himself. 
Even then the adage held good that the sauce was 
often worth more than the fish. 

Indeed, the sauce is the sonnet of the table, as varied 
in its forms as the structure of the sonnet itself. The 
Gaul is its master, and to him belongs the majority 
of its most pleasing tenses. In the words of the dis- 
tinguished INIarquis de Cuss3% who maintained that 
a good cook can remove your gout as you would re- 
move your gloves, — "Point de sauce, point de salut, 
point de cuisine; where would we be if the grand 
sauces, the lesser ones, and the special ones that have 
rendered the French school illustrious had not been 
discovered by men of the greatest genius? The life 
labours of one alone would not have suflSced. What 
a brilliant ladder to scale, that wliich, leaving the last 
round — the sauce pauvre homme — is lost in the clouds 

340. 



OF SAUCES 

with the veloute, the grande and petite esi)agnole, and 
the reductions!" ^ 

Sauce Soubise, sauce d'Orleans, sauce d'Uxelles, 
and sauce a la Regence are all credited to great minds 
of the eighteenth century, so prolific of new culinary 
discoveries. Through their piquant instrumentality 
we may in imagination summon the splendours of the 
Regency and the reign of Louis, surnamed "le Bien- 
Aime," with the brilliant toilets of its gay and pretty 
women — the high-heeled pointed shoe, the powdered 
hair, the rouge and beauty-spot, the painted fan and 
walking-stick of fille, duchesse, and marquise that still 
look at us from the canvases of Boucher and Watteau. 
We may see, too, the V-shaped satin corsage, the ex- 
pansive pannier, the diaphanous rohe deshahilUe, — 
flounced, frilled, flowered, and furbelowed, — the em- 
broidered petticoat and surge of lace and ribband, as 
fair dame and plumed gallant repair to the suppers 
of the Palais-Royal and the Pare aux Cerfs, or sit 
down amid umbrageous glades to the revels of a fete 
champetre. 

Almost as many varieties of sauces exist as of soups. 
But these may vary little or largely from their usually 
accepted names. The cook will tell you, if you are 
unacquainted with the fact yourself, that by adding 
to simple melted butter a liberal amount of finely 
chopped parsley (some ruin the relish with grated 
nutmeg, a spice which should be used with great dis- 
cretion), salt and pepper, and a dash of lemon, you 
have what is termed a maitre-d'hotel sauce. Add to 
this finely minced garden-cress, chervil, and a little 

1 " L'Art Culinaire." 

347 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tarragon and burnet, and you produce a different 
sauce under the same name. Thus plain onion sauce 
and sauce Soubise, in each of which the onion forms 
the dominant chord, may differ equally, and sauce 
piquante and sauce Robert yary only in their titles and 
the additional mustard called for by the latter. Sauce 
poivrade, in like manner, is a sauce piquante with an 
increased supply of pepper and without the pickled 
cucumber. 

Among the most valuable of all sauces, though em- 
ployed only cold and served with cold viands, is that 
which at once suggests what Jules Janin in an inad- 
vertent moment termed the "cardinal of the seas," and 
that at a luncheon or a late supper possesses a merit 
distinctively its own. This Careme has dealt with 
at length in his treatise on cold sauces. The origin 
of the word "mayonnaise," a blending supposed to be 
the invention of the jNIarechal de Richelieu, has always 
remained in doubt. Its etymology has been attributed 
to INIahon, a town of southern France. Yet this sup- 
posed derivation is extremely dubious; and as it was 
also known as "bayonnaise," it might be ascribed 
equally to Bayonne, famous for its hams, its cheese, 
and its chocolate, and for having invented the bay- 
onet.^ 

It has been variously termed mahonaise, bayonnaise, 
mahonnoise, magnonaise, and mayonnaise. But Ca- 
reme, after minutely describing its preparation, from 
the first drop of oil to its final silky, white, and unctu- 
ous cream, denies its accepted derivation, and pro- 

1 "All the entrees havin{>the name the Mar^chal, Due de Richelieu." — 
Bayonnaises (a corrupt term for Manuel des Ajiphitryons. 
Mahonnoise) were the invention of 

348 



OF SAUCES 

nounces it magnonaise, from the verb manier — to stir ; 
as it may be prepared only through the continual stir- 
ring it undergoes, which results in a marrowy, velvety, 
and very appetising sauce, unique of its kind, and 
bearing no resemblance to others that are obtained 
only through reductions of the range. Despite this 
ingenious explanation, the word is still written 
"mayonnaise"; and while lights shine brilliantly, and 
champagne sparkles, and the great crawfish, subli- 
mated into salad, receives the encomiums of apprecia- 
tive guests, the famous chef of the Empire is forgot- 
ten, and the chapter of the "Cuisinier Parisien" exists 
only as a tale that is told. 

It may be observed that a good sauce should be 
perfect in flavour, colour, smell, and consistency. It 
should be savoury, flowing, and well defined. On the 
proper liaison, a correct apportionment of the flavour- 
ings, a knowledge of the range, and a discriminating 
palate, supplemented by long experience, depends 
its triumph. Of course the bain-marie will be readily 
accessible when the sauce is obliged to wait, the butter 
will be unexceptionable, and the shallot especially will 
never be lacking when its virtues are in request. As 
has been ])reviously stated in the case of numerous 
other culinary preparations, success depends more 
upon the practitioner than the formula. It is as diffi- 
cult, therefore, to describe the subtle chiaroscuro of a 
perfect sauce as to define the hues that mantle 
the petals of the rose "Beaute Inconstante," or the 
combined odours hived by a windless night of June. 

Comparatively fcAv sauces may suffice for the mod- 
est household to supplement the espagnole, or brown 
3i9 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

sauce, and the veloute, or white sauce, the foundations 
from which most others are compounded. These two 
rudimentary sauces, to be well made, should not be 
greasy, but contain just enough fat, according to the 
authorities, to present the velvety appearance of a 
full-blown damask rose. Careme devotes twenty- 
five pages to these "mother sauces" and their two 
slight modifications, bechamel and allemande; while 
Francatelli points out that although great care and 
watchful attention are requisite in every branch of 
cookery, the exercise of these qualities is most essential 
in the preparation of the grand stock sauces. In the 
home kitchen these are naturally prepared in an in- 
finitely more simple manner than according to the 
elaborate recipes of the great professors of the table. 
The mistress of the household who would render 
herself trebly aj^preciated, and who by ministering to 
man's palate may the more readily guide, direct, and 
control his character, should train herself unerringly 
in the art of compounding appetising and wholesome 
sauces. To be sure, some of these manipulated by 
competent masculine hands — but how often slurred by 
some fatigued or indifi*erent sous-chef! — may be ob- 
tained at one's club or the better-class restaurants. 
But here in many instances the wine-cellar is apt to 
be uncertain; while frequent dining out is not to be 
compared with the sense of comfort of dining at home 
when the kitchen, even though unpretentious, is care- 
fully administered, the menu varied, the wines perfect 
of their kind, and where Her Gracious Serenity's ad- 
dress may have conjiu'ed some dainty entree whose 
sauce, sapid and velvety, leaves nothing to be de- 

350 



OF SAUCES 

sired. One might tire of this, perchance, with no 
change for a sixmonth, as one might weary of constant 
sunshine or a too lavish profusion of tender epithets. 
Yet it is a desirable condition, nevertheless, to 
fall back upon; and in the end far the safest for 
digestion. 

And this despite Balzac, who well understood the 
cuisine no less than the "Comedie Humaine," — that 
"marriage must necessarily combat a monster who de- 
vours everything — daily routine"; or his other defini- 
tion in the "Physiology of Marriage," a physiological 
study that was inspired by Savarin's "Physiology of 
Taste," — ''Pressurez le manage, il nen sortira jamais 
rien que du plaisir pour les garfons et de V ennui pour 
les maris.'' 

The wise woman will have many side-lights in her 
composition; and in the kitchen her sauces Mall have 
many shadings. 

Let us toast her in a glass of sparkling St. Peray, 
and acknov/ledge that without her there were no home 
cuisine and consequently no home life. So closely 
does the art advocated by the late lamented INIrs. 
Glasse touch upon the fundamental happiness of man- 
kind; and sauces which render it an art supreme still 
further accentuate the amenities. It has been said 
that it is not obligatory for lovely arms and shoulders 
to be acquainted with rhetoric. However this may ob- 
tain — and there are admirers both of shapely shoulders 
and of the graces of languages, there can be no doubt 
that charming women who possess a taste for gas- 
tronomy whicli they can put to practical use upon oc- 
casion, are an infinitely greater desideratum tlian 
351 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

whose energies may be centred strictly upon flounces 
or the study of metaphysics. 

With the following sauces, besides the simpler 
forms of espagnole and veloute, much may be ac- 
complished at home: cream bechamel, sauce pi- 
quante, sauce bordelaise, maitre-d 'hotel and bearnaise, 
liollandaise, sauce an vin blanc, sauce au beurre noir 
(plain, or with shallots and parsley added), tomato 
sauce and its special form a la Richelieu, and, finally, 
Francatelli's sauce Xumber 65 for mutton and dark- 
fleshed game.^ If, apart from those enumerated, 
madame be an artist in the fashioning of sauce tartare, 
the mayonnaise and its shadings, and a plain French 
salad dressing, all will be lovely sailing. What 's 
sauce for the goose, however, is not necessarilj^ sauce 
for the gander, and vice versa. Women will prefer 
the cream bechamel, mayonnaise, and Francatelli, 
and the sterner sex will like them all. 

It may not prove entirely without profit if to these 
be added sauce a la Schonherg, which harmonises not 
only with halibut, flounder, sea-bass, and sole, but with 
chicken-breasts and white-fleshed game-birds as well, 
when one desires a change from the usual modes of 
preparation : 

^^Saucc a la Schonherg. Make a roux of a tablespoon of 
butter and flour, brown slightly? add two shallots finely 
minced, and a pint of chicken broth, three tablespoons of to- 
mato sauce, a small bay-leaf, two cloves, some finely minced 
parsley, a teaspoon of cognac, and a little white wine. Sea- 
son with salt and pepper, and strain. Then add a half can 

^ The recipes for sauce a la Richeliexi and Francatelli's sauce are presented 
respectively in the following and in a previous chapter. 

352 



OF SAUCES 

of mushrooms, slice and brown thorn in a Httle butter with a 
few dice of sweetbreads previously cooked, and, just before 
removing from the range, the yolk of an egg and a half cup 
of cream." 

The professional chef may possibly criticise it, — 
mesdames the " 'Compleat' Housewives" will discover 
in it a fragrant note of satisfaction. 

Will new sauces continue to be invented? Assur- 
edly; of culinary as well as other novelties there will 
always be an abundant supply, however bizarre or 
lacking in excellence compared with the old. But in 
new dishes it will be new combinations for the most 
part, varying but little from the classics and those al- 
ready known, rather than any distinctly novel forms 
of superior merit, such as have been recently evolved 
in floriculture, for instance. For the art of cookery 
is of ancient time, while the evolution of the .flower, 
especially the floral queen, the rose, is comparatively 
new; and where the one has still untold possibilities, 
the other has well-nigh attained its full tide of savour 
and perfection, at least in theory and understanding, 
if not nearly so often in practice as were to be desired. 

An extended disquisition, redolent of truffles and 
odorous of the herb-garden, might be devoted to the 
subject of sauces, of which Charles Ranliofer in his 
recent manual, "The Epicin*ean," presents two hun- 
dred and forty-six. But this were invading the prac- 
tical domain of tlie cookery books, and wandering too 
far from the lines of the subject under consideration 
— the history and province of Gastronomy. 



353 




THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

"It is difficult to imagiue a happiei' conjunetion than the blend- 
ing of the symbols wlieii the anns of a sportsman are ((uartered 
with those of a cook. The tints of the atitiimnal woods reflected 
in the plumage of mature and lusty game are types of rich ex- 
perieTices and genial sentiments whii-h flit about the sjwrtsman's 
board and linger at his heartli vnth as gi-aeious a fitness as that 
which diffuses a faint lilush tlirough the russet of a well-cooked 
mallard's breast, and with a zest equal to the relish wliich lurks 
within a woodcock's tliigh." — John Aldekgrove. 

HOW that beechwood on a distant hillside, its tall 
trees despoiled of their foliage, and its skirts 
lighted with the clinging gold of the saplings, stands 
out against a hoar November sky and the tablets of 
memory, as one recollects an accommodating covey of 
grouse, a successful "right and left," and the hoarse 
clamoiH' of the crows whose conclave was disturbed 
by the salvo of the barrels ! 

Of the wealth of aliments bestowed upon man by a 

354 




I£ ^ 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

bountiful Providence for his sustenance and delecta- 
tion, none lends a greater grace or ministers more to 
the variety of the table than game. The offspring of 
wild nature, nursed upon its fruits, its mast, and its 
vegetation, and exhaling the very essence of its most 
secluded recesses, it sheds an added lustre even upon 
the most elaborate repast. Its comparative rarity, to- 
gether with that quality which maj^ be best defined as 
distinction, invests it with a heightened charm; while 
to the sportsman it is indelibly associated with scenes 
the recollection of which causes the pulse to throb with 
a renewed joy in the sense of living. Its pursuit natu- 
rally leads to an abiding love for nature; so that the 
bird in the thicket, the wild fowl in the marsh, and the 
hare in the covert become to the votary of sport more 
than mere adjuncts of gustatory delight. AVho shall 
ever forget the first game-bird he has killed, or the 
first " pound trout " he has captured with the fly? — 
the souvenir comes like a burst of autumnal radiance, 
or the redolence of vernal flowers. To what enchant- 
ments is not game the open-sesame ; and what halcyon 
visions does it not enshrine ! It is the emblem of plen- 
teousness, the symbol of maturity. The gilded woods 
and ripened fruits, the teeming fields and garnered 
sheaves, the purple haze and mellow afterglow, the 
harvest moon and the elixir of the frost — all the lar- 
gesse of the year is typified in the least of the wild life 
that is included in the term "game." 

These woodcock, for instance, do they not at once 

bring to mind the beauties of their native haunts? — 

the devious alder tangle and jungle of wild grape 

where the dragon-fly flits above the murmurous 

355 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

stream, and the cardinal-flower reflects itself within 
the glassy pool. This ruff'ed grouse, in turn, how he 
recalls the pageant of the upland! Once more you 
scent the breath of the wildwood and drink the exhil- 
arating draught of October. Again are you thrilled 
by the roar of strong pinions as the quarry rises in his 
strength, to fall beneath the leaden charge and fold 
his wings in everlasting sleep. Or, with the advent 
upon the board of that much-in-little, the snipe, the 
lonely marsh with its whispering flags and shift- 
ing cloud-shadow extends in imagination before 
you — where the killdeer calls, and the bittern 
booms, and the bird Cyf mottled breast twists away 
with raucous cry to be lost in the grey horizon's 
marge. 

Thus game to the sportsman embodies an aesthetic 
attribute unknown to the majority, the very associa- 
tions of sport in themselves conferring the keenest 
appreciation of the true instincts of gastronomy. The 
range and the breech-loader are closely allied, and the 
field and the table become merged in ties of mutual 
affinity. Nor may we overlook the great worth of 
game in the sick-room, and as a ministering agent for 
the invalid and convalescent. It possesses, in addi- 
tion, a vii-tue equalled by scarcely any other form of 
food, in calling forth the bouquet and flavom* of wine 
— whether it be a white wine with the denizens of fresh 
and salt water that figure as game-fish, or a grand 
growth of Bordeaux or Burgundy that is appropri- 
ately served with the furred and feathered tenants 
of Sylva's court. Then if one lias killed it himself, 
or a friend whose skill has checked its flight has been 

356 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

the means of contributing its graces, its quintessence 
becomes all the more adorable. 

Combining so many advantages, it is to be deplored 
that the preservation of game in this country is not 
more carefully guarded, and that the scarcity of man}'' 
species is becoming more and more apparent. The 
practice of spring shooting of snipe, duck, and shore- 
birds, when on their migrations to their northern nest- 
ing-grounds, cannot be too severely censin'cd; while 
the laxity in enforcing the laws and the dissimilarity 
of close seasons in diiferent counties operates still 
further to cause the depletion of wild life. The pot- 
hunter and the spaniel, the trap and the gin, 
are gradually exterminating the ruffed grouse; 
the olden flocks of plover and wild pigeon have 
well-nigh vanished; while snipe, woodcock, quail, 
and duck are now as rare in many localities 
where they formerly abounded as the trout which 
once swarmed in the streams. Deer and its con- 
geners, it is true, have received better protection of 
recent years, the increasing numbers of deer at least 
attesting the wisdom of stringent laws stringently en- 
forced. It will therefore be readily evident that pres- 
ervation and protection become a question of para- 
mount importance which may no longer be loosely 
considered, or soon the last grouse will have sounded 
his reveille, and the whistle of the woodcock will re- 
main only as a memor^^ The remedy is easily pre- 
scribed, and may be briefly summarised — legitimate 
shooting and fishing, rigid enforcement of the laws 
with lieavy penalties for the off*ender, a single close 
season for the smaller species that are found in prox- 
357 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

imity, abolishment of spring shooting, and a rigor- 
ous surveillance of the covers. By this means the table 
may possess one of its greatest luxuries in abundance, 
and sport resume its former sphere as the greatest of 
recuperative and edifying recreations. 

In its relation to the table, the term "game" is held to 
include wild fowl as well as most furred and feathered 
spoils of the chase. Or, defined more accurately in its 
connection with gastronomy, it embraces everything 
belonging to the province of sport that is edible. Cor- 
rectly speaking, no species of wild fowl, or species like 
the plover, rail, pigeon, etc., may be accounted game, 
the quality of which consists in the subtle presence of 
scent, instinctively recognised and followed by thor- 
oughbred dogs, — a trait expressed by Hollar's lines, 

"The Feasant Cocke the woods doth most frequent, 
Where Spaniells spring and pearche him by the sent." 

Yet species foreign to the blue blood of flax and fea- 
ther may, nevertheless, afford sport, and prove acqui- 
sitions for the table. The little spotted sandpiper, ac- 
cordingly, whose musical peet, weet, wect rings along 
the brooksides and moist meadow-lands, and even the 
squirrel if killed in cold weather, are entitled to rank 
as table-game, providing they be properly prepared. 

It should not be supposed, however, that all indi- 
viduals of a given species taste alike, flavour being 
the result of two important conditions. Xeither 
should it be presumed that a game-bird, usually re- 
ferred to as masculine, is preferable for the larder in 
that gender; the truth being that for culinary pur- 

358 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

poses the hen is generally preferable to the cock. 
Every sportsman will recall the difference in the taste 
of certain game-birds, more especially snij)e and wood- 
cock — depending upon the nature of their feeding- 
grounds, and upon the season. Like celery, moreover, 
most game requires a touch of the cold to develop 
its qualities. The snipe that bores in sweet, moist pas- 
tures, and the woodcock shot on high grounds during 
late autumn, would hardly be recognised as the same 
birds bagged under widely dissimilar conditions. The 
bobolink of our summer fields is scarcely prized until 
as a migrant he has fattened on the rice-fields of the 
South, to acquire an added bloom under tlie name of 
]'eed-bird or rice-bunting. Similarly, the sheep of 
Pre-Sale, the succulent salt-marsh mutton of the Brit- 
tany coasts, renowned for its delicious flavour, owe this 
quality largely to the herb absinthe which grows amid 
the herbage on which they browse. The mutton of 
sheep fed on pastures where thyme abounds also ac- 
quires a particularly fine savour. In like manner, 
when the ruffed grouse through stress of weather has 
been compelled to feed on birch-buds, or when he has 
dined on the berries and foliage of the wintergreen, 
his aroma is strikingly accentuated, becoming a veri- 
table "steam of rich-distilled perfumes." 

The wild duck is an apposite example of the effect 
of food upon flavour ; and even a pheasant a la Sainte 
AUiancc must pale before a celery-fed canvasback 
or redhead bathed in its own carmine juices. The 
redhead, who dives down for the roots of the Vallis- 
vcria which the lazier canvasback purloins, is identi- 
cal in quality with the latter when shot on the same 
359 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

feeding-grounds ; the only difference between the two 
when cooked consisting in the larger size of the canvas- 
back. Equally, the blackbird and starling, when 
killed on the shocked corn-fields where the hazy sun- 
light broods, or in autimm woods where thej^ are gar- 
rulously discussing the date of their approaching 
flight and marvelling at the exquisite gradations of 
the maples' changing hues, become possessed of a 
tenderness and succulence imknown to the glare and 
greenness of summer. 

Another much esteemed native table-bird is the 
sora, crake, or Carolina rail, who should not be con- 
founded with the British and European corn-crake or 
land-rail whom JNIichael Drayton refers to as "seldom 
coming but on rich man's spits," and Gilbert White 
represents as crying crevc! crex! from the low, wet 
bean-fields of Christian INIalford and the meadows 
near Paradise Gardens at Oxford. The sora throngs 
the marshes of the Atlantic coast in early autumn, con- 
gregating in the greatest quantities south of the Rap- 
pahannock, where he is slaughtered by wholesale ^yith 
comparatively little diminution of his ranks. He is 
a small dark-fleshed bird of great delicacy when 
broiled, and by many is prized more highly than the 
toothsome reed-bird or the golden plover. Though 
resembling the corn-crake in many ways, his nearest 
relative abroad is the spotted crake. The great- 
breasted or king-rail of the fresh-water marshes is like- 
wise much esteemed. In flavour the sora is not unlike 
the wild duck; or, if the comparison may be made, a 
cross between the qualities of a teal and a snipe — de- 
riving his special richness from the seeds of ihcZizania 

360 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

aquatica, or tall, wild reed of the tidewater shores. 
The juicy little bobolink whose rippling scherzo, flung 
over the fallows and buttercups of June, is basely for- 
gotten by the epicure in the fall, may be crunched in 
a mouthful ; the sora is thrice his size, and, though sel- 
dom as fat, is richer in the quality of his ruddy flesh. 

It were a parlous task to attempt to describe from 
memory the respective merits of the reed-bird, the 
famed European ortolan, and the English wheatear, 
fieldfare, and mistletoe-thrush. One stands helpless 
under such a contretemps, and must necessarily await 
the advent and the edict of another La Reyniere. The 
fig-pecker of southern Europe is more easily passed 
upon, and readily ranks first among small table-birds. 

The tall yellowshank or stone-snipe, with his slim 
gilded stilts and snow-white breast, familiar to the 
gunner as a migrant and a frequent companion of the 
upland-plover, would be esteemed by the sportsman- 
epicure if only for the recollection of his splendid 
spread of wing, his graceful circlings, his loud whis- 
tling notes, and his lovely silvery plumage. 

Although considered less desirable than the snipe 
and woodcock, the upland- or grass-plover — in reality 
a sandpiper — should by no means be overlooked. One 
intuitively thanks him for the scenes he graciously 
leads to — the placid September day steeped in sun- 
shine, the tender green of sprouting wheat-fields, the 
pageant of asters, and the billowy roll of mushroom- 
studded pastures. One hears anew his weird, plaintive 
cry in the arc overhead — like the bleat of distant folds 
— -audible long ere the grey forms are discernible, as 
the sportsman imitates their notes, and the wavering 
361 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

flock, witli a flutter of white wings, drops down to the 
sward below. Besides the salad which should accom- 
pany all species of game, the upland-plover, therefore, 
should be garnished witJi Jiis accessory, the field-mush- 
room, whose snow}^ pileus and pink gills his dainty 
tread is constantly brushing, but never ruffling, amid 
the old pastures, stump-lots, and sheep-walks he fre- 
quents. 

But the graceful Bartramian sandpiper has other 
aliases than those of uj^land-, field-, and grass-plover. 
Besides his common appellation of "tattler," he is 
known in Louisiana as the " pepperpot," and more 
generall}' as the "papabotte" — a local name, from the 
Creole French, significant of all that is most prized in 
edible game. "Arriving from the vast prairies of 
JNIexico and Texas, where they spend the winter," says 
Audubon, "the dry upland plains of Louisiana called 
Opellousas and Attacapas are amply peopled with 
this species in early spring as well as in autumn. 
About New Orleans they appear in great bands in 
spring, and are met with on the open plains and large 
grass}^ savannahs." 

L^pon the restaurant cards of New Orleans and 
other Southern cities he figures much as the truffle 
does in France — his particular food imparting to his 
flesh a peculiar flavour and certain peculiar virtues. 
The favourite mode of preparing him by the New Or- 
leans clubs is to roast him and serve him slightly un- 
derdone with the trail finely minced on toast. His 
appearance is nearly simultaneous with that of a blis- 
ter-beetle known as the "Spanish fly" — one of the ex- 
tremely numerous members of the genus Coleoptera 

362 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

and family Cantharididce, of which a large portion 
are common to the haunts of the bird. This destruc- 
tive insect comes in myriads to prey upon growing 
vegetation, but the papabotte consumes vast numbers 
until his disappearance during latter September, as 
the upland-plover does of grasshoppers and crickets 
in the North — waxing so fat upon his favourite diet 
that when he falls before the gunner he often bursts 
open like an overripe fruit. He is known chiefly as the 
plover in Texas, where, in addition to a diet of grass- 
hoppers, etc., he subsists largely on the striped blister- 
beetle {Lytta vitatta), and doubtless also on the black 
blister-beetle {Lijtta at rata) , which is likewise quite 
common to Texas during certain years. It is proba- 
ble that both these species of cantharides form a large 
portion of his diet in Louisiana as well. A wary bird 
when approached on foot, and not lying to the dog, 
he is frequently himted on horseback, or by employing 
a horse and wagon, when he is easily brought to bag. 
The flesh of the cantharide-fed bird is always ex- 
tremely heating in its efl'ects; and, indeed, owing to 
the absorption of cantharidin, the active principle of 
the insect, it not unfrequently acts as a violent irritant 
and poison. Yet the papabotte is eagerly sought for, 
and by the epicure his flesh is more liighly esteemed 
than that of the woodcock, snipe, or sora.^ 

Notable among indigenous game-birds are the 
rulFed grovise, the quail, the pinnated grouse, and the 
woodcock, together with numerous other varieties of 

^ "Those which feed much on can- have assured me that they have seen 

tharides rec}uire to be very carefully persons at dinner oblip:ed to leave the 

cleaned, otherwise jjcrsons eatin^r room at once, under such circum- 

them are liable to suffer severelj'. stances as cannot well be described." 

Several gentlemen of New Orleans — At dubox: The Birds of America. 

363 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

the family Tetraonidce, variously classed by the orni- 
thologists, that are less familiar or less widely dis- 
tributed, and are locally known under various names. 
AVith these may be included not a few species that do 
not figure properly as game, such as the wild turkey, 
canvasback duck, etc. 

All things considered, the ruffed grouse — the "par- 
tridge" of the Xorth and "pheasant" of the South — is 
entitled to rank first among feathered game. No- 
thing swifter or more valiant in plumage tests the 
sportsman's nerve and skill. So far as sport is con- 
cerned, he may be placed, from his alertness, swift- 
ness, and the trying nature of his usual habitat, on 
a par with the trout of the clear Hampshire chalk- 
streams, whose fastidiousness in rising to the artificial 
fly so taxes the angler's resources on the placid reaches 
of the Itchen, the Anton, and the Test. He is j)reem- 
inently the bird of the woodlands, supreme in his 
sturdiness and his strength. His roll-call awakens 
the wind-flower, and his thunderous tchirl fans the 
September air into freshness. He blends with the 
buffs of the beech and russets of the oak, and is elo- 
quent with the lustihood of the ripened year. And 
how artfully he assimilates with the shadows and 
thrusts a tree-trunk between himself and the gunner! 

See him as he springs from the tangle of the sap- 
lings, a shaft of mottled splendour where the sun- 
light strikes his sides; and the hoarse boom of the 
double-barrel fails to check his tumultuous flight. Be- 
hold him in the spring while he struts upon his chosen 
log with extended tufts and expanded feathers, beat- 
ing the air with his wings, and sounding his reverber- 

364 




O " 
o _g 

Ed c 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

ating peal of defiance and of love. Consider him 
amid the rigours of the frost, loyal to his native 
haunts, true to the instincts of his race, when most of 
liis companions have deserted him for more congenial 
climes. Observe him once more when the deadh^ vol- 
ley has stopped his career, and he falls upon tlie russet 
carpet, in glossy black ruflF, and plumage in blended 
hues of olive, brown, black, and grey — the noblest 
game-bird that treads the forest aisles! 

And if no other member of his family requires more 
address in bringing to bag, none may surpass, if 
equal, him in his wild woodland flavour. His back 
is the very incarnation of poignancy, while no bird 
that flies can vie with the whiteness and plumpness 
of his breast. This is saying nothing against the 
prairie-chicken in his younger stage, or the eastern 
quail, or even the two long-billed beauties beloved by 
the sportsman and the epicure. But the assertion may 
be safely ventured that he will lend himself to more 
varieties of wine in evolving their seve than any 
other representative of the haunts of Pan. Bonasa 
lunbellus! may birch-bud and beech-nut, winter- 
green and partridge-vine, never fail thee in snow and 
storm ! 

With the speckled trout, the rainbow-trout, the sun- 
apee-trout or saibling, the black-bass and muscalonge 
should also be included among distinctly native game- 
fish. The brown trout of Europe has recently been 
introduced into many American waters, as the IVIon- 
golian pheasant has been introduced in the fields. But 
the American speckled trout, who is in reality a char 
and smaller than the European trout, is higher fla- 
365 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

voured, and, like the saibling and the rainbow-trout 
of the Rockies, is a far more beautiful fish. The 
brown trout thrives luider warmer conditions tlian tlie 
speckled trout, and consequently is an acquisition. 
But as he attains a much larger size, it is unwise 
to place him in waters tenanted by the native species, 
as the larger fish has already proved very destructive 
to the smaller fry of the SalvcUnus fontinalis. 

It is superfluous to state that fish cannot be too 
fresh, in which respect it is the reverse of game. The 
quail, and especially the ruffed grouse, should be hung 
long enough to develop their flavour. Eaten too soon, 
they do not represent game, as their quality is not at- 
tained ; hung too long, on the other hand, they are not 
fit for the table. To cook quite fresh game is to deride 
its mission on earth. A happy medium should be ob- 
served in tlie case of maturing most species. The 
duck, woodcock, and snipe should only be mellowed 
or kept under favourable conditions for a short period. 
They are like a peach, which is best when recently 
plucked, as opposed to a pear, which requires to be 
slowly ripened after gathering. It is possible to eat 
a "high" grouse or pheasant, if not too gamy; but a 
duck past the meridian of maturity is well-nigh im- 
possible, as is also a shore-bird or either of the long- 
bills. 

There is no occasion to burj^ the wild boar, as is 
sometimes done in Europe for the purpose of mellow- 
ing him; inasmuch as he does not exist in America, 
and the razor-back hog of the South, however well 
he may have feasted on beech-mast, cannot take his 
place. But in place of the wild boar we have the 

366 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

lordly moose, elk, and caribou, and the picturesque 
Rocky JNIountain sheep and goat, which, if not all de- 
sirable for the larder, nevertheless afford magnificent 
sport; while by many a young caribou or elk, as also 
a mountain sheep, is considered among the graces of 
edible furred game. 

The relative time of keeping all game to savour it 
under the best conditions will depend upon the wea- 
ther. It is always better when hung in the fur 
or feathers, and where it may have a circulation 
of air, than when confined in a close receptacle. 
When frozen it loses in flavour and succulence. 
Dark-fleshed birds, with few exceptions, are best rather 
underdone — rosy, but not raw. White-fleshed birds 
should be done sufficiently, but not cooked to the ex- 
tent of drying their juices. The cooking of mutton 
will serve as a type for the one, and veal for the other. 
INIost game-birds are best plainly roasted or broiled, 
although for variety they may be served in various 
appetising ways. In roasting the smaller species, the 
vine-leaf and a strip of larding-pork should not be 
overlooked; and ^vhere these or well-buttered paper 
are not employed, as in the case of over-fat birds, the 
basting-spoon should be kept in constant agitation. 
Larding lightly often improves a white-fleshed bird 
where he has not been enveloped in pork. 

Especially, let game be zealously watched in the 
cooking; let its appropriate wine be carefully consid- 
ered; and let no delay occur in its flight through the 
butler's pantry to the dining-room. Its garnishing 
also should be studied, that it may flatter the eye as 
well as the palate; and, for the most part, with fea- 
367 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABEE 

thered game water-cress or filets of lemon shopld lend 
tlieir colour and their zest. 

(rame-birds should always be hung by the head, not 
for the purpose of sending the juices to the legs, as 
is fantastically supposed by some, but to allow the 
lower viscera and their contents an approach to the 
natural exit. Were they hung by the feet, the visceral 
machinery — softening more and more, as it always 
does — would of course press upwards to their bodies 
and probably taint them. A game-bird should never 
be drawn until that office is performed by the cook. 
Hares are usually hung by their hind legs, it is true; 
but hares, if hung for any time, are invariably'' 
"paunched," so that no lower viscera remain in them. 

Fish, it has been pointed out, should never be cov- 
ered up, or it will suffer fatally from the condensation 
of the steam. It may be noted that for an all-round 
sauce for broiled fish, none wears better tlian a maitre- 
d'hotel and, occasionally, its modification, a sauce an 
heurre noir. 

A well-made bread-sauce, an accessory which we 
owe to England, always accords with quail and grouse, 
and is not amiss with prairie-chicken, even if they are 
already well moistened with the sauce of cooking them 
with pork and basting with bouillon. Francatelli's 
delicious sauce, Number 65, the recipe for which has 
been presented in a previous chapter, will need no 
recommendation as an adjunct for venison and mut- 
ton where it has once been enjoyed. Apple-sauce is 
indispensable with the domestic duck, and boiled 
onions should not be omitted by way of a vegetable 
accomx^animent. Canard saignant is reprehensible, 

368 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

and equally so is the overdone bird. A wildling 
should be fresh and sweet, and "passed through the 
kitchen" not "once," but thrice; the domestic fowl will, 
of course, be allowed more time on the range to plume 
himself for the table. The celery-fed bird (O avis 
jucuudissima!) calls for no other sauce than his own, 
but with some species a stuffing of olives and an olive 
sauce are excellent additions. Then, if your bins of 
tc'tes de cuvec of the Vosne be not lacking, you may 
hear your whistler simply praying to be engulfed in 
Richebourg or Romance. 

The wild turkey, the "spruce-j^artridge," and the 
"cottontail" will prove more desirable subjects for 
the seasonings and provocative sauces of the French 
cookery books than their more princely companions. 
The wild turkey, notably, despite his splendid wattles 
and emerald plumage, it must be conceded cannot 
compare with the tamer fowl in edible qualities; and 
it were well, where a stately gobbler has been sent as 
the result of the prowess of a friend, to dispense at 
once with his drum-sticks, which, owing to his roving 
habits and wide ranging, have become tougher than 
the ham-strings of a patriarchal sage-cock. 

He should be treated as a somewhat plain-looking 
woman, who has passed the hey-day of her charms, 
pranks and accoutres herself for a ball, and the aid 
of art be summoned to amplify his good points and 
gloze over any of his tleficiencies. His resonant voice 
of course will be stilled by the cooking, but his volup- 
tuous breast will remain. Thus by neatly cutting 
across the lower part of the back and thighs, removing 
his shapely legs, and then inverting him, he will have 
369 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

been formed into a l)()at-likt' receptacle for an artistic 
chestnut stuffing. One may then proceed to lard him ; 
and, while roasting, baste him thoroughly, send him 
to the table with some oak-leaves en couronne, a cur- 
rant-jelly sauce in a sauciere, and, with the assistance 
of a perfumed and generous red wine, make the most 
of his seductive contours. All this may be contrary 
to the tenets of Savarin, \vho pronounces the wild 
turkey superior to the tame. But it must be remem- 
bered that he is speaking of a wild turkey that he had 
the good fortune to kill by his own hand while in Con- 
necticut — a fact which, with the appetite engendered 
by his shooting-outings, will readily account for the 
preference he expresses for the wild form of this noble 
member of the Phasianidce. At a certain season, how- 
ever, when he has fattened on pecan-nuts, the flesh 
of the wild turkey is of excellent flavour; and to this 
circumstance Audubon's eulogy is probably due: 
"The rufl*ed grouse, in my humble opinion, far sur- 
passes as an article of food every other land bird which 
we have in the United States, except the w^ild turkey 
Avhen in good condition." 

Furred game is more amenable to variety in prep- 
aration than feathered ; and while manned venison and 
a civet of hare may be delicious, the fewer culinary 
frills on a grouse, woodcock, or snipe the better. A 
salmis, nevertheless, has its virtues ; and as for the lord 
of the woodlands, when tired of him au naturel, if that 
be possible, he may be invested with a new glory as 
partridge ciUlV clioiuv, if one but follow the counsels of 
Baron Brisse, whose prescript is well worth transcrib- 
ing and comes within the comj)ass of all : 

370 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

^^Penlrix aua: cliou.v. All housewives do not succeed with 
perdrix aux choux. This is the way to set about it in order 
to be complimented. Pluck, draw, singe, truss, and tie up 
the partridges. Blanch some cabbages, cut in quarters from 
which the cores have been removed ; put them to soak in fresh 
water, dry them and press out all the water. Blanch also a 
small piece of lean pork from the breast. Make a light roux 
in a large stewpan, put the cabbages in with the small pieces 
of pork, some uncooked sausages, some carrots, an onion 
piqued with two cloves, a bouquet-garni, salt and pepper. 
Plunge the partridges in the centre of the cabbages, cover 
with broth and cook gently in a closed stewpan. When done, 
remove the birds, the pork and sausages, dry off the juice of 
the cooking, then drain the cabbages — that is, turn them in 
a stewpan, on a quick fire, until they are free from liquid. 
Untruss and dress the partridges on a platter, on a bed of 
cabbages, with the backs underneath, cut the pork and sau- 
sages in pieces, slice the carrots, and garnish with all. Par- 
tridge aux choux is accompanied wdth a sauce made from a 
roux moistened with broth and added to the juice of the 
cooking." ^ 

The touch of the baron in everything relating to 
the all-important office of eating is invariably delicate 
and sure. Nevertheless, if one may venture to suggest 
an improvement, not in the mode of cooking, wherein 
he is impeccable, but in the shading of the plat, it 
would be to remove the birds after they have simmered 
sufficiently in the cabbage, glaze them with melted 
butter, and place them for an instant in the oven, with 
a very lively fire, in order to brighten their otherwise 
somewhat blanched complexion. Sauerkraut, instead 
of cabbage, is frequently employed by the French, but 

^ " La Petite-Cuisine." 

371 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

with far less happy results. With care in its employ- 
ment, the Brussels sprout, after it has felt the finger 
of the frost, might he used as a medium with no re- 
grets unless on the score of a slight indigestion. Were 
one an ostrich, nothing could serve as a more delicious 
or colourful vehicle than the German roth-Kohl. Of 
sausages, the highly spiced little Wienerwurst is best 
adapted to the dish. 

A game-pie composed of numerous spoils of field 
and cover- — seasoned and stuffed with herbs, shallots, 
bay-leaf, mushrooms, truffles, chestnuts, sweetbreads, 
and various vegetables, and cooked in broth and red 
wine, with a fingerful of brandy and another or two 
of ^ladeira — is a triumph of the chef when well exe- 
cuted. But to indulge in this requires a vigorous di- 
gestion and toes impervious to arthriticism. 

In its relation to wine, the maturity of game should 
be taken into consideration; as, for example, with 
dark-fleshed birds that are comparatively fresh, a fine 
Bordeaux ; with those that are more matured, and par- 
ticularly duck, the warmer and more generous red vin- 
tages of the Cote d'Or and the Cote du Rhone. For a 
well-hung prairie-chicken, a red wine will naturally be 
selected; for a "partridge" that inclines to freshness, 
either champagne or Bordeaux, Burgundy or a Dei- 
desheimer Auslcse may serve for a bath with equally 
good results. But game is too often undeservedly 
treated and served at the end of a dinner of numerous 
courses, when, whatever its merit or that of its accom- 
panying wine, the palate and appetite are in scant 
mood to appreciate it. 

With the advent of the autumnal equinox the calen- 

372 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

dar of seasonable sport begins. There is then an ex- 
hilaration in the air that irresistibly invites to out-of- 
door exercise and an exploration of the covers. Game 
is then matured, fleet of foot and strong of wing; 
and at no other period do upland and vale present 
such varied attractions. September is the true adagio 
of sport, October and November the allegro, and De- 
cember the diminuendo. For pure sylvan beauty, no 
month may compare with October, when the torch 
of autumn kindles the woodlands into living flame, 
although the dreamy Indian summer possesses a 
charm that is matched only by IVIay when she rolls 
away the resurrection-stone. Then when the purple 
landscape lies hushed in slumber, one may recall anew 
the forgotten ode of an unknown bard, in whose haunt- 
ing cadences are subtly expressed all the rest and 
peace and rhythm, all the tone, the tenderness, and 
benediction, of the latter-year: 

I. 

Nothing stirs the stillness save a leaf that slowly rustles down, 
Dim, through sunny mists the trees uplift their branches bare 

and brown ; 
Winds are hushed, and skies are soft and grey, and grassy 

slopes are sere, — 
Calm and sweet and still, all ! sure is this the twilight of the 

year. 

II. 
There is this in these November days, the message that is 

sent — 
Peace undying, rest, and sweet and measureless content; 

373 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Life's wild fever over, sleep's soft mood enchanting, such as 

fills 
Golden dreams of gods immortal, sits enthroned upon these 

hills. 

III. 

Offered in day's golden chalice, sweet and dreamy peace is 

mine ; 
All 's forgotten, lying here and w^atching tides of glorious 

light divine 
Slowly sweep along the hills, and vaguely thrilling to their 

sway — 
All that love hath lost or w'rong hath won, O calm and royal 

day! 

Days there are in late November and December, 
too, when the beauties of leafless vegetation are 
scarcely surpassed by the pomp of October or 
the glamour of the Red INIan's summer; when 
tender tones of russet and grey bask over bare 
fields and fallows, and wanton amid mysterious 
woods ; and strange, ripe hues, rich as those of old tap- 
estries, smoulder and gleam the livelong day from the 
southern horizon's verge. There is a charm as well 
in the clear crispness of a winter's day, when the woods 
are cushioned with snow on which the sylvan denizens 
have left their imprint, and when one may penetrate 
into the swamp's most secluded labyrinths, where the 
hare and fox have gone before. But October and No- 
vember for the delights of the chase and glories of 
the countryside! The gay medley of summer has 
passed, and in its place are the aster and goldenrod 

374 



.% 



*,? 



■^:^ 




THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

hosts, the bright berries of bittersweet and black al- 
der, the fragrant life-everlasting and lingering yar- 
row. Ceased is the drone of insect choirs, and birds 
are silent save for the chattering of congregating 
flocks and call-notes of passing migrants. But 
through the rustle of Autumn amid her falling leaves 
the quail cries aloud from the coppice, "I am here!" 
the squirrel barks, and far within the woodland's 
depths the drum of the grouse proclaims the reign of 
sport. 

What more appropriate at this most alluring mo- 
ment, when everything incites to an outing, than a 
hunting-party in the woods? — especially as one re- 
members that both the fall woodcock and time are on 
the wing. To a shooting- jaunt, therefore, with a well- 
prepared luncheon in the hampers, the reader is in- 
vited; it being understood that this is to include, as 
nearly as possible, an equal number of both sexes. 
We will suppose a day in mid-October, after the frost 
has vivified the air, when the tints of vegetation vie 
with those of the noblest pressings of the vine, and the 
matured plumage of a game-bird in the cover far ex- 
ceeds the liveliest gilding the chef may bestow upon 
liim on the table. 

Here, still more than at the dinner-table, success 
will depend largely upon careful forethought; for 
even should the birds be unusually wary, and there 
be not enough game in the pockets to weigh very 
heavy, the excursion will prove none the less enjoy- 
able, provided tlie party and the lunch be well com- 
posed. And wliether the goal be witliin driving dis- 
tance, or accessible only by train, the details will have 
375 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

been planned by one who is thoroughly conversant 
with the region to be visited, and the refection have 
been looked after by hands that never fail. Let tlie 
luncheon never be neglected. If the sportsman's ef- 
forts turn to good account, appetite is a certain se- 
quence; if not, an appetising spread will help to 
bridge over any chagrin at lapses of marksmanship, 
or the drawing of sparsely populated covers. Thus, 
under the most divergent circumstances, a choicely 
filled hamper answers an admirable purpose. Granted 
that one may shoot better during the first hour after 
a meagre repast, yet should an outing possess other 
features than mere weight and numbers. For hath 
not wise JNIontaigne declared, "He who hath no jouis- 
sance but in enjoying; who shoots not but to hit the 
marke; who loves not hunting but for the prey; it be- 
longs not to him to intermeddle with our schoole." 

The start will necessarily follow a reasonably early 
breakfast; and ere arriving at the final destination of 
the morning, various covers may be explored by the 
devotees of the gun. And while the music of the bar- 
rels rings through the painted woods, and the russet 
bird of October tops the ranks of the aspens, there 
will be sufficient novelty in the situation and in the 
attractions of their own company, no doubt, to prevent 
any ennui on the part of those in waiting. 

INIeantime, while the bag of woodcock mounts, or 
an old cock grouse is neatly stopped in his rush 
through the thicket, the manifold beauties which the 
autumnal season weaves will natm-ally arrest one's 
attention; for he is callous indeed to all sense of 
beauty who even in the midst of exciting sport can 

376 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

fail to note the harmonies of the October countiyside. 
To the true nature-lover, the shooting will be more 
of an excuse than the principal reason for the ex- 
cursion, of which the surroundings and the joys of 
social companionship should constitute the greater 
entertainment. And thus ere leaving the scene of the 
last hour's sport, one involuntarily pauses at the skirts 
of the wood for a final survey, — to mark the gorgeous 
ambers of the beech, the garnets of the shad-blow and 
splendours of the dogwood and liquidambar; to view 
the fires of the swamp-maple, the ochres of the sassa- 
fras and clarets of the oak; while, fringing the edges 
of the thicket, the bronzed fronds of the ostrich-fern 
and gilded pennants of the aspens flutter their fare- 
well to the passing year. On every side the insignia 
of autumn blaze. Thorns hang heavy with their bur- 
den of ruddy fruit, the black-alder berries gleam crim- 
son in the swamp, hickory and elm shower down their 
ore. And but for the patter of dropping nuts, the 
robin's angelus, and the lisping of migrants pluming 
for their southward flight, one might suppose the ar- 
rased woodland halls had never hearkened to the her- 
mit's song or echoed to the veery's strain. In the air 
overhead the midges are holding their final dance; 
while from the lengthening shadows and plaintive au- 
tumn breeze comes a whispered admonition to seize 
tlie fleeting moment and make the most of the golden 
hour. 

Nevertheless, however alive to the enchantments of 

natvu'e, the tonical quality of the air will have asserted 

its sway, and the gunner's ap]^etite ha\'e mounted 

apace with the bag. So, in that contented frame of 

377 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

mind and body which out-of-door exercise imparts, 
one arrives at the scene of the luncheon, whicli has 
been liappily chosen in a glade through which the 
slanting sunbeam strays. And here the arrivals will 
note with delight the presence not only of certain 
vitreous receptacles with gilded capsules that are cool- 
ing in the stream, but also that of St. Ange, who so 
distinguished himself on a previous occasion with his 
wonderful salmis of quail. With the first glass of the 
foaming essence of the JNIarne, which blends admirably 
with the lobster-cutlets and tartare sauce, even the 
most enthusiastic of sportsmen will expeiience no 
regret at the change from the covers of the upland 
to those of the table. The more so as, passing to a 
vintage of the Haut-lVIedoc with its accompaniment 
of eggs farcis, chicken-breasts with a chestnut stuffing, 
lettuce sandwiches with pdtc dc foie gras, and the final 
tartlets of pufF-paste, the brightness of bright eyes 
increases, the merry tale goes round, and St. Ange 
arises to this gastronomic homily : 

"The collation to wliich wc have done such merited justice 
demonstrates that not only in the society of the fair sex may 
man enjoy a deliglitful hunting-jaunt, but that the care they 
are capable of bestowing upon the spread renders their com- 
panionship even yet more desirable. The best of all sauces 
is hunger engendered by exercise in the open air, and, 
equally, the best of digestives is pleasant company. But 
you have asked me to present my views of a fete champetre. 
In tlie present instance, as I consider the excellence of the 
repast, and survey the ideal scene that surrounds us, where 
even the trees disburse a golden tribute, T have but to draw 
from tlie hour Itself to find all the elements that arc neces- 

378 



THE SPOILS OF THE COVER 

Scary for an ideal rural outing — congenial company, a fault- 
less day, an unexceptionable lunch, and picturesque environ- 
ment. As for the luncheon, its perfection consists in its 
piquancy and lightness. All heavy dishes should be scrupu- 
lously avoided. Taken at an unaccustomed time during the 
middle of the day, they are not only more or less indigestible 
and conducive to plethora, but they are ininu'cal to the dinner 
whicli necessarily succeeds at a later hour, and which, how- 
ever well prepared, must prove a failure without appetite. 
In planning the luncheon one should always see to it that some 
tart relishes, as well as sweets, accompany the more substan- 
tial portions ; for the taste out-of-doors invariably craves 
one or the other, if not botli. It is equally important that 
the wines be served at the right temperature, — 

" 'The Roederer chilly to a charm, 
As Juno's breath the claret warm,' — 

and that some one person be held strictly accountable for their 
condition. Where exercise is to be freely partaken of, beer or 
ale and some effervescent water should always form a part 
of the provision-box. At all seasons during wliich an outing 
may be taken with comfort, ice should be liberally provided. 
Its absence may spoil the day. If not wanted, its burden is 
light ; and if required, nothing can take its place. Where 
women lend their attractions to the party, champagne of a 
fine vintage, neither too sweet nor too dry, should be allowed 
to flow freely. The advantage of this form of wine consists 
not only in the exhilarating sparkle and play of its mantling 
life, where the beads that airily rise are ever in pursuit of 
those that have merrily passed ; but in the magnetism it pos- 
sesses above all other wines — of tempting the fair sex to drink 
an extra glass. The location for the midday symposium, if 
well chosen, will add greatly to the enjoyment of the occa- 

379 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

sion. This slioukl be free from draughts, by the side of a 
stream if possible, and offer an attractive view. These condi- 
tions fulfilled, nothing but pleasant remembrances can remain 
until the next villeggiatura. 

"You have requested of me a new dish. And if you forget 
La Bruyere's sentence that 'all has been said, and we arrive 
too late by more than seven thousand years since man has 
lived and thought,' I may observe that cookery is older than 
literature, and that new dishes are as difficult to devise as 
new thoughts are to be born; it is only by new combinations 
in both that one may hope to achieve applause. Yet there 
is everything in a delicate touch in cooking, which is always 
more inherent than acquired, a connaissance of herbs and 
flavourings, and a natural love for the good things of the 
table, inspired by robust health and inheritance. With pre- 
cisely the same components, no two artisans will produce the 
same results. There is an art even in the boiling of a potato, 
as there is in the blending of a salad, the gilding of a roast 
fowl, and a game-bird cooked a 'point. 

"Baron Brisse, you will recollect, has contributed an in- 
valuable recipe for a gigot rechauffe, whereby a leg of mutton 
may be made to do duty for two consecutive days. Here 
is the mode to prepare a gigot a la Richelieu which is not 
chronicled in the cook-books, — the . allusion to the distin- 
guished Cardinal referring both to its cardinal virtues and 
the colour of the sauce. It is unnecessary to state that this 
dish belongs to the dinner and not to the luncheon: 

^^Gigot de mouton d la Richelieu. In the leg of mutton 
you have chosen, which should be that of a Pre-Sale or a 
South Down wether two years old and properly hung — the 
four-year-olds are too fat and arc apt to taste tallow^y — you 
will make a dozen incisions, placing in each its tithe or 
twelfth part of a clove of garlic. The gigot will then be 
rubbed over with flour, salt, and a little cayenne. Then roast, 

380 



THE SPOILS or THE COVER 

basting thoroughly, and serve somewhat underdone, with a 
tomato sauce composed as follows : Take half a can of toma- 
toes, add half a clove of garlic, a small piece of bay-leaf, two 
cloves, a sprig of parsley, a stick of celery, two small carrots, 
and a small piece of raw ham. Cook half an hour, pass 
through a sieve ; take a tablespoonf ul each of flour and butter 
and make a roux in a separate stewpan ; then add the tomato 
sauce, together Avith a little broth, salt and pepper, cooking 
until the proper consistency of the sauce is attained. On the 
sauce, to a great extent, depends the success of the dish, which, 
when well executed, is altogether too good to last for two con- 
secutive days. I concede the merits of my deceased friend, 
the worthy baron ; but try a gigot de mouton a la Richelieu! 
With this dish alone, including its vegetable accessories, and 
a salad, a bit of Rocquefort and a sound bottle of old Bor- 
deaux, one may say with Joseph Delorme, — 

" ^Jouissons, jouissons de la douce journee, 
Et nc la troublous pas, cette lieure fortunee.' 

(To the fullest enjoy the sweets of the day, 
And stay the bright hour ere it passeth away.) 

"I have now only to propose the health of the ladies who 
have so enhanced the pleasures of the occasion ; and, finally, 
to remind the sportsmen who, with all their distractions, have 
admirably distinguished themselves prior to the luncheon, that 
sending game, which one may have secured at the expense of 
many a league of toil through field and covert-side, to certain 
friends is sometimes a waste of good-will: 

" 'It will soon be time for you to pull the trigger again,' 
observed one of two enthusiasts of the gun to a companion, 
as they were discussing the vinous virtues of the 1895 Clos- 
Lamarche, whilst the dun September evening rapidly shut out 
the twilight and proclaimed the advent of autumn once more. 

381 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"'Yes,' was the rejoiiulcr ; 'I intend to try the- woodcock 
to-morrow. But I shall not repeat the experience I had last 
3car on the same date, when, sending my bag of the long- 
bills to a convalescing patient who was a connoisseur in art 
but not in ferce naturcB, I received a most appreciative acknow- 
ledgment by return mail, thanking me for the "delicious 
quail" I had sent him.' " 

But the cigars are finished, the golden afternoon 
is waning, and the chill of the autumnal evening will 
descend swiftly upon the scene. There remains time, 
ere the return, only for a brief drawing of a neigh- 
bouring cover of alders, where a flight of fall wood- 
cock may be probing amid their secluded glooms. The 
birds prove plentiful, the pointers are staunch, and 
notwithstanding the somewhat prolonged repast, the 
aim of the sportsmen is true. A bevy of quail, which 
at the final moment rise wildly from the edge of the 
covert and twist down the hillside, must be left for 
anotlier occasion, with but three of their number to 
swell the score. How darkly blue the contours of the 
distant hills, seen athwart a patch of flaming sumach 
and bramble! With what brilliancy the beams of the 
sinking sun irradiate the gold of the beeches and the 
spun silver of the gossamer ! And how the bright eyes 
of those in w^aiting sparkle at the sight of the wood- 
cocks, as the hampers are hastily repacked, and the 
orange crescent of the hunter's moon speeds the party 
onward through the paling twilight and a wan mist 
that is stealthily creeping over the landscape, — the 
grey ghost of the departed October day! 



382 




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TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

"Avec les truffes, et avee quelques-uns de ces exeelleuts champi- 
gnons si admirablement analyses par JI. Roques, vons refaites la 
cuisine; vous en avez line dii nioins qui ne vieillit jamais, meme 
pourvous." — Marquis de Cussy: L'Art Culinaire. 

THE truffle! what a fragrance its very name ex- 
hales. A flower like the rose, but more endur- 
ing, say its admirers. This strange food product has 
been studied by botanists, sung by poets, extolled by 
epicures, and accorded certain rare attributes by phy- 
sicians. Unseen, it is sought for by entire communi- 
ties; and discovered, it is treasured as a priceless gem 
of the table. Savarin defined it as the diamond of 
the kitchen. By La Reyniere it was previously re- 
ferred to as a sample of Paradise, and later eulogised 
as possessing a torrent of delights; while by Dmiias 
it was pronounced the sacrum sacrorum of the gas- 
383 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tronomer. It may, in truth, be regarded as the super- 
lative of esculents, its powerful and delectable aroma 
dominating that of all other aliments with which it 
may come in contact. To the cuisine of winter it is 
what the violet is to the cha2)let of spring. The old 
Greeks and Romans were extremely partial to it, al- 
though the varieties known to them and mentioned 
by Pliny differed from the famous Tuber melano- 
sporum of southern France — the blackest and, as re- 
garded by many, the most perfumed and delicious of 
its curious and widely distributed family. About 
1825, under jNIinister Villele, it came into greatest 
vogue in Paris, when the subject was taken up by the 
press, and so much was written in praise of the tuber 
that the demand soon increased threefold, and its price 
became correspondingly augmented. 

Like the mushroom, the truffle is impatient of keep- 
ing when gathered. Preserved truffles, as a rule, are 
but a semblance of the fresh product when eaten at 
its precise maturity; and those who know this thallo- 
gen only in the former state have little idea of its mar- 
vellous flavour when fresh and in full possession of its 
virtues, whether it be served by itself or utilised as a 
vehicle for heightening the flavours of other dishes. 
Its use demands the knowledge of an artist; for it is 
only with certain forms of aliments that it should be 
employed. The onion and the nuishroom detract from 
its savour, and it is chiefly in conjunction with fatty 
substances that its most expressive results are attained. 
By French epicures it is tacitly understood that there 
can be no grand dinner without truffles. "Who would 
dare to say," exclaims Savarin, "that he has attended 

384 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLEXCE 

a repast where a piece truffee did not figure! How- 
ever good an entree may be, it should always be ac- 
companied by truffles to set it oif advantageously." 
Its harmonious association with grain-fed fowls is 
proverbial,^ — so much so, it has been remarked, that at 
a well-composed dinner every phrase which may have 
begun should be suspended upon the arrival of a truf- 
fled turkey. Berchoux thus alludes to its use with 
fowls, — 

"L'abondance est iinie a la delicatesse, 
La trufFc a parfume la poularde de Bresse." 

(The truffle yields its most adored caress 
When tuck'd within a tender fowl of Bresse.) 

At a dinner where the renowned naturalist Buff on 
was present, a truffled Perigueux turkey was brought 
in with great eclat. Inspired by the penetrating 
aroma, an elderly lady who was among the guests 
inquired of Buffon where the tuber grew. "At your 
feet, Madame," was the ready reply. The lady not 
understanding, it was thus explained to her: "C'est 
aux pieds des charmes" (at the feet of j^oke-elm 
trees) . The compliment passed as a happy one. To- 
wards the end of the dinner some one asked the same 
question of Buffon, who, forgetful of his elderly 
vis-a-vis, innocently replied, "They grow aiuv jncds 
des vieucc charm es" (old yoke-elm trees). The lady 
overheard liim, and it is unnecessary to state was no 
longer impressed with his genius as a naturalist, or 
with the fact that a soup had been named in his hon- 
our by the great Careme. 
385 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Though common to many countries, and compris- 
ing numerous species, the truffle attains its greatest 
excellence in France, unless the white truffle of Italy, 
which is considered equally good by many, be ex- 
cepted. Its chosen haunts are clayey soils mixed with 
sand and limestone, moist, shaded, and tem])erate lo- 
calities, southerly and easterly expositions, protected 
slopes, and especially the umbrage of oaks, as also 
of aspens, black poplars, nut-trees, yoke-elms, willows, 
and white birches. Limestone or carbonate of lime 
is accounted as necessary to its formation, while the 
presence of iron imparts to it an added firmness and 
aroma. Despite persistent efforts, all attempts to 
cultivate it have proved fruitless. It is only of recent 
years that it has become known in part how it is propa- 
gated or how it grows. Among trees, the oak is its 
most favoured companion, its artificial production 
having been accomplished wholly through the culti- 
vation of oaks and certain other trees in soils and 
expositions corresponding to its natural habitat. 

By general consent Perigord is credited with pro- 
ducing the best truffles, the next in commercial repute 
being those obtained from Provence and Dauphine; 
the finest of the former come from the canton of Sar- 
lat, the best of Dauphine from the cantons of Tain 
and Valence. Among authorities, Beauvilliers pre- 
ferred the black product of Provence (T. mela- 
nosporum), of which there are two varieties, the so- 
termed violet and the grey; and Savarin the white 
species (T. magnatum), obtained preferably from 
Piedmont, where it occurs beneath poplars and oaks 
during summer. The whitish-brown truffle of Italy, 

386 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

in its early stage, similar to the whitebait described 
by Thackeray, possesses an "ambrosial flavour," and 
is difficult to surpass, combining as it does all the 
most ethereal qualities of the Allium tribe with the 
dulcet pungency of Gorgonzola when in its fresh- 
est flower. A species exists which emits a powerful 
scent of musk, while numerous others occur with 
odours so rank as to be utterly unfit for edible pur- 
poses. Northern Spain produces excellent truffles, 
but these are comparatively short-lived. T. jestivum, 
called "summer truffle," indigenous to many countries, 
is extremely plentiful in southern France. It is com- 
mon to England, where it grows most frequently 
under beech-trees. This exhales a strong and pene- 
trating smell which has been compared to that of 
sheep-folds. The effluvium of garlic is always very 
marked in the white truffle of Italy, and by some it is 
said to recall the odour of garlic mixed with onion, 
high game, and matured cheese. After standing for 
a time, when its garlic flavour has become somewhat 
modified, it is also suggestive of the flavour of vege- 
table-oysters. Indeed, the truffle is as strange in its 
odours as it is in its manner of growth, and in certain 
respects it brings to mind some characteristics of that 
strangest of flowers, the orchid. 

From November to JMarch is the season when the 
prized dark tuber is most abundant, and during which 
its highest qualities are evolved. The black pearl of 
Provence and Perigord begins to take on its rich ebon 
hue in October, lasting until April: ^stivum and its 
varieties being gathered during INIay and June in 
Provence, and from October to January in Burgundy 
387 . " ' 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

and Champagne. The species of greatest repute in 
southern 1<' ranee is found at variable depths, mostly 
beneatli certain oaks known as chcncs trufficrs, or 
truffle-oaks. A\^ith it often occurs another species, 
T. brumale, which is likewise held in much esteem and 
figin-es as a large commercial factor. Among the in- 
habitants tlie truffle harvest forms an extensive in- 
dustry; pigs, dogs, and professional hunters being 
utilised for the quest, and the crop always command- 
ing high prices, which are fixed by the Paris market. 
AVhen the supply happens to be short, many infe- 
rior species are substituted or are mixed with the 
genuine. 

Of recent years artificial truffiercs ha^x been largely 
planted in the favoured districts of southern France. 
To ]M. Rousseau, a proprietor of Vaucluse, has been 
erroneously ascribed the discovery of this means of 
production. Already during the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century M. de Montclar, procureur-general 
at Aix, discovered truffles as the result of sowing 
acorns on his lands ; but, the truffles disappearing sub- 
sequently, no further attention was paid to the matter, 
and the relation between cause and eiFect passed un- 
noticed or was forgotten. Since then Poitou, Peri- 
gord, and Provence have each claimed to be the dis- 
coverer of artificial truffle cultiu'e. It is within a 
comparatively short period only that the merit of 
originating the system, now^ a source of great revenue, 
was adjudged, after painstaking investigation, to 
Joseph Talon, a small landholder of Vaucluse, who 
about eighty years ago sowed some acorns in an un- 
remunerative piece of ground. Ten years afterwards, 

388 



TWO ESCULENTS TAR EXCELLENCE 

while passing through the phiiitatioii with the pig he 
employed in hunting, he was not a little surprised to 
find truffles beneath the oaks; when, recollecting that 
he had obtained the acorns from a truffle-oak, he re- 
peated the sowing on another plot, which in course of 
time proved equally successful. The theory was es- 
tablished beyond a doubt, and the result finally be- 
came generally known, despite his efforts to keep it 
secret. 

Many unsuccessful attempts at artificial truffle- 
raising have been made. In 1830 Alexander Bern- 
liolz, a German, published a long treatise on the sub- 
ject, his theory being that by planting truffles in soil 
composed of certain ingredients, and in localities and 
expositions corresponding to their natural habitat, 
they could be successfully grown. Count Xoe, in the 
south of France, is said to have succeeded in raising 
truffles in his woods by irrigating the ground, after 
a certain degree of preparation, with water in which 
the skins of truffles had been rubbed. But this state- 
ment, as well as other reputed successful attempts at 
reproduction, would not seem to have been borne out 
in France, where the planting of young truffle-oaks, 
the acorns of truffle-oaks, or certain other truffle- 
producing trees alone has accomplished the desired 
result. 

In artificial plantations the truffles form in from 
six to ten years, usually disappearing when the trees 
are twenty-five or thirty years old. Then, after a 
variable period of non-production, the tuber often 
forms again. As the truffle-tree develops, the vege- 
table growth which surrounds it begins to decline, 
389 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

a certain index that truffles are commencing to form 
— the ground round a truffle-producing tree being al- 
ways sterile. AVhen the truffles cease the herbage 
again appears. 

Though many unsatisfactory reasons have been 
ascribed for the phenomenon, it has been traced by 
]M. Grimblot to the simple fact that the filaments 
of the mycelium invade and destroy the roots of 
herbaceous vegetation. Similarly, vegetation as- 
serts itself when the cause is removed. With young 
trees the truffles are usually found close to the trunk, 
whereas with old trees they generally appear near 
the periphery of the circle formed by the outer roots, 
as well as at a distance further removed, but usuallj^ 
within the shade of the tree. To what extent the 
humus of the soil formed by the droppings of the 
leaves is responsible is not stated. In many respects 
the subject remains, as it has always remained, a 
complex phenomenon that baffles the naturalist, who 
is usually content to refer to the truffle as an "un- 
derground fungus," or "an order of sporidiiferous 
fungi of subterranean habit." Perhaps the definition 
of Dr. C. de Ferry de la Bellone, which may be sum- 
marised as follows, is as accurate as any: "A sub- 
terraneous mushroom with a mycelium or filamen- 
tous body, from which it is developed, like the mush- 
room, and which requires the roots of certain trees 
for its formation." ^ The theory that the truffle owes 

^ " I have not defined the truffle as La Truffe. Etude sur les TruflFes 

yet, but the definition of this sub- et les Truffieres. Par le Dr. C. de 

terranean mushroom which em- Ferry de la Bellone, Ancien Presi- 

braces within its outer covering the dent de la Societe do Medecine de 

sporangiums filled with spores sub- Vaucluse, President du Comiee Agri- 

sequently destined to reproduce it. lole, ete., etc. Paris, Librairie J. B. 

is the result of all I have said." — Ibid.: Bailliere et Fits, 188H. Hvo, pp. 31-2. 

390 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

its genesis to the roots of trees, or is in some mysteri- 
ous manner connected with them, might be accepted 
as satisfactory were it not that species are also found 
in open places where the argument could not apply. 

While the roots of most kinds of oaks, both decid- 
uous and evergreen, appear to be favourable for its 
generation, it has been found that in a given region 
the best species to propagate are those which have 
already produced the tuber in the locality in question, 
certain varieties seeming to be more liable to repro- 
duce it than others. Climate, altitude, and exposition 
are also to be considered as regards the choice of the 
kinds selected for plantations. The arboriculturist 
and mycologist will be interested in the various truffle- 
producing oaks that may be utilised, according to the 
site, soil, and climatic conditions. These embrace the 
following species and varieties : Quercus pedunculata, 
Q. ped. pubescens, Q. semi-ped., Q. sessiliflora nigra, 
Q. nigra sessil. glabra, Q. nigra sessil. pub., Q. sessil. 
pub., Q. sessil. laciniata, Q. sessil. magna pubes, Q. 
ilex, Q. coccifera. All kinds of nut-trees are likewnse 
favourable to its production, and may be planted 
almost indiscriminately. The range of T. melano- 
sporum is broadly defined as between latitude 49° 
north and 40° south; the question of quality depend- 
ing, like that of many other esculents, largely on cli- 
mate and habitat. As in the same vineyard certain 
portions yield a superior wine, so on particular slopes 
of localities that favour the truffle a product of finer 
quality is obtained. 

Besides the usual means of locating tlie truffle, its 
presence is revealed by several species of coleopterous 
391 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

and dipterous insects which, during late autumn and 
winter, on temperate days swarm in the truffle-woods, 
attracted by the scent. These insects seek the tuber 
in which to deposit their eggs, and are observed en- 
tering and leaving the ground — a circumstance which 
gave rise to the opinion that the tiniffle was only a gall. 
This form of truffle-liunting is practised chiefly by 
poachers, and is known as la chassc a la mouclie. 

The statement that the canned truffle is but a shade 
of its original will bear modifying in certain in- 
stances wliere only the best species have been utilised, 
after scrupulous selection, before they are wormy or 
overripe, and where they have been preserved by the 
"Appert process," an nature!, without oil, brandy, or 
vinegar, in hermetically sealed cans, and used before 
they have been thus preserved for a long period. Un- 
der these conditions the species melanosporum and 
magnatum retain no little of their pristine virtues, and 
may still glorify a sauce or dignify a Chjiteaubriand. 
To the skill of the cook the result will be principally 
due. Inasmuch as the truffles have already been sub- 
jected to several hours' ebullition, they should only be 
finely sliced and gently heated in order that their 
flavour may not be dissipated by the cooking. The 
dish they are to grace should be prepared first, and 
so soon as the truffles are ready it should be immedi- 
ately served under cover. Perhaps as good a medium 
for utilising the preserved product is a steak Avith a 
bordelaise sauce in which garlic or shallots should 
figure very lightly. The comparative excellence of 
the preserved truffle will depend, of course, upon 
freshness and the probity and care of the merchant. 

392 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

One may obtain all sorts of truffles with attractive 
labels, as one may obtain attractively labelled Cha- 
teau wines that may "leave everything to be desired." 

At a dinner where a hou vivant was expected, the 
truffle figin-ed in a novel manner. 

"A friend who is very fond of good things is to 
be my guest over Sunday," said the host to the cook, 
who was an excellent practitioner in certain lines; 
"and I want you to use truffles plentifully some way." 

"How shall I cook them, Mr. S? Mrs. S. is n't 
here." 

" Oh, I don't know; anyway, I 'm in a great hurry, 
and I '11 leave it to you." 

The soup was admirable, the lobster a la New- 
hurgh perfect, and the entree and pommes soufflees 
left nothing to be wished for. To the surprise of all, a 
large, heaping dish of truffles, charred, highly spiced, 
and finely minced and served as a vegetable, appeared 
with the roast. 

The host remained imperturbable, a vestige of a 
frown clouded the usually placid face of madame, 
the butler poured the Chambertin, and the truffles 
were passed by. 

"You are the most expensive guest I have had in 
a long time," remarked the host, with a smile, the 
following day. "I must think what we can have this 
evening for dinner; or, better, consult with madame. 
There is plenty of chamj^agne in which to cook truf- 
fles, if the cook and the truffles were in evidence. I 
told her I wanted plenty of truffles for you, and the 
remaining eleven cans of the dozen in the larder were 
tendered you last night." 
393 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

The truffle lias formed the theme of nmiierous books 
and treatises. To the French gastronomer who may 
obtain the fresh product during a large portion of 
the year, the work of jNI. ]M. ^Nloynier will unques- 
tionably prove of the greatest value — a major portion 
being devoted to a scientific analysis of the various 
dishes, Avith their recipes, in which the esculent may 
properly figure. It is justly claimed by the author 
that wine is an indispensable accompaniment of this 
"astonishing production" or any dish in which it 
may enter; but that sweet champagne to which 
women are so j^artial masks rather than quickens its 
flavour.^ The mycologist who simply wishes to know 
the species and habits of hypogteus fungi will no 
doubt prefer the monograph of Vittatini, Milan, 
1831; that of M. Tulasne, Paris, 1852; and the in- 
structive work of Dr. de Ferry already cited. Few 
more interesting fields for research offer themselves 
than that presented by the black pearl which is con- 
cealed beneath the soil — living its strange life beyond 
the ken of human eye, and revealing itself only 
through the agency of the animals employed by man 
to discover it, and of the insect tribes that hover above 
it in their dance of rivalry and love. 

Savarin, above all writers, has considered the truffle 
philosophically in his comparatively brief reference; 
and although he failed to answer the question, "What 

1 " De la Truffe, Traite Complet de culinaires ; les meilleures methodes 

ce Tubercle, contenant sa Descrip- d'en faire des conserves certaines ; les 

tion et son Histoire Naturelle la indications, recettes et moyens les 

plus detaillee, son Exploitation Com- plus positifs et les plus compliques 

merciale et sa Position dans I'Art sur tout ce qui concerne cette sub- 

Culinaire; suivi d'une Quatrieme stance; par M. M. Moynier. Paris, 

Partie contenant les meilleurs moy- Barba. 1836." pp. 400. 
ens d'employer les truifes en apprets 

394 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

is the truffle, how is it produced, and hoAv does it 
grow?" he has still appraised its virtues in his own in- 
imitable way. That it is digestible has been amply 
proven before, and this point did not require his re- 
searches to substantiate. The only charges that his- 
tory records against it are gluttony in eating it, and 
the fact that Lartius Licinius, a person of pra?torian 
rank, while minister of justice at Carthage in Spain, 
upon biting a truffle found a denarius inside, which 
cost him the loss of a tooth — a proof to Pliny that it 
was nothing but an agglomeration of elementarj^ 
earth. Of certain attributes it is supposed to possess, 
the sixth JNIeditation of the " Physiology," to which 
the reader is referred, will speak clearly for itself ; and 
it will be sufficient to transcribe the conclusion of the 
learned chancellor's deductions: 

"La truffe n'est point un aphrodisiaque positif; viais elle 
peut en certaines occasions rendre les femmes plus tendres et 
les homines plus aimables.^^ 

Referring to Savarin's conclusion. Dr. de Ferry 
makes this statement, based on professional experi- 
ence : 

"iS'?tr rindividu sain et bien portant, la truffe excite des 
fonctions spcciales. . . . La truffe peut ajouter seule- 
ment aux qualitcs de ceux qui possedent; elle n'est plus 
d^aucun secours a ceux qui, n'' ay ant pas gere leur capital en 
bo7is peres de famille, ont consomme leur ruine.^^ 

Little attention has been paid to the question whe- 
ther edible truffles equal to the best European species 
395 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

exist within tlic broad area of the United States, 
whence so many useful and deHeious food ])roducts 
and flavourings have sprung. ^I. Movnier states that 
he has tasted most excellent truffles from Brazil; and 
that a grey species of merit, round in form, is found 
on the right bank of the Mississippi — a somiewhat 
vague statement, in view of the length of that river. 
The only species that Saccardo's "Sylloge" credits to 
this country is T. macrosporum, said to have been 
found in Pennsylvania. Some years ago INIr. W. R. 
Gerard reported having discovered T. dryophilum on 
Staten Island. Rhizopogon rubescens, a pufF-ball, 
grows underground in the Southern States, and is 
sometimes mistaken for the truffle; also certain spe- 
cies of Scleroderma, or puff-balls which are partially 
underground. There are besides some of the false 
truffles of the genus Elaphomyus in the Eastern 
States. It will thus be seen that the subterranean 
fungi belong to three distinct orders. Dr. H. W. 
Harkness, in 1899, issued in the California Acadeni}" 
of Science Proceedings an illustrated article on the 
Hypogaeus Fungi of California, wherein he describes 
thirteen species, of which seven are new and all of 
which he pronounces edible, though few, if any, of 
them are found in abundance or are worth considering 
from a practical standpoint. 

From this it may be inferred that if these fungi 
could be diligently sought for in other States by 
those who have carefully studied the haunts and habi- 
tat of the tuber abroad, many desirable species might 
be found to belong to our country. Dr. Harkness 
does not mention T. melanosporum among Califor- 

396 




"NorVEL MANUEL COMPLET DU CnslXlEK ET DE LA Cl'ISIKlfcRE" 
Facsimile of frontisi)iece, lS2i 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

iiiaii species. At present we do not know whether this 
or T. magnatum, or some form possessing equally 
adorable qualities, occurs in our country at all; but 
they and others, it is possible, may yet be unearthed 
to disclose to the epicure a true "sample of Paradise." 
To do this, trained truffle-pigs and -dogs must be 
brought into requisition; and should the search then 
be unrewarded, the truffle-oak must needs be imported 
and planted under conditions corresponding to those 
of its native habitat. Let America add the truffle to 
her already rich alimentary resources, by all means, 
even if she must remain content with the wines of 
France as supplied from oversea. 

If the truffle may be described as an occult vegetable 
substance with no stem, cap, or visible mycelium, in 
great repute with epicures, and most generally found 
firmly embedded beneath the surface of pdtc de foie 
gras, — the mushroom, common to nearly all latitudes, 
grows in ^ isible profusion, and may be readily ob- 
tained for the seeking. Some knowledge of genera 
and species, nevertheless, becomes necessary if one 
would a^ ail himself of this nutritious esculent. One 
must know what to avoid as well as what to choose; 
for often highly dangerous sorts are ver}'' nearly al- 
lied to the harmless. 

Of recent years the study of fungi has received 
considerable attention, and the mushroom has become 
much better known with us than formerly. Com- 
pared with Eiu'opean countries, however, the average 
person still knows little concerning its edible varieties. 
Few are unacquainted with the most prevalent form, 
397 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Agaricus campestris, whose shining white ])ileus dots 
the meadows, pastures, and roadsides. But whether 
familiar or unknown out of doors, no introduction 
to it will be required at table. Its very mention makes 
one's mouth water, and evokes a longing for the cool 
shadows of fall and the restful minor of the crickets' 
choir. 

To appreciate it thoroughly, one should gather it 
himself, or, rather, in congenial companionship. And 
as its form is typical of femininity in its rounded 
contours, its white satiny gown and rose-silk petti- 
coat, to say nothing of its dainty veil and frill, it is 
eminently proper that madame or mademoiselle, as 
the case may be, should join in the quest. On a bland 
September day, therefore, let the lanes and pastures 
remote from the highway be explored in company 
when the first ripening sjM'ays of the sugar-maple 
are commencing to brighten and the clusters of the 
everlasting are beginning to unfold. Then will the 
delights of the chase prove doubly enjoyable; and 
with the common agaric as the object of pursuit there 
will equally be little danger from mistaken varieties. 
At most, the harmless horse-mushroom may obtrude, 
to be plucked aild cast aside. 

But the mushroom is far from being confined to the 
pastures and fields, or its duration limited to a few 
weeks of autumn; and despite the excellent general 
dietetic advice of the fourth satire of the second book, 
Horace's dictum should not be taken too seriously, — 

"Best flavoured mushrooms meadow-land supplies, 
In other kinds a dangerous poison lies." 

398 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

By many A. Rodmaiii, the small compact species 
common to cities and found growing along the side- 
walks and curb, is preferred to campestris. Less rich, 
it still possesses a full, nutty fragrance and flavour, 
and is more digestible. Even more distinguished is 
another agaric, Lepiota procura, or the tall parasol- 
mushroom — one of the most delicious of all edible 
fungi. jMany valuable species throng the woods and 
shady places during a large portion of the genial sea- 
son, to push through the mould or clothe the stumps 
and decaying logs — in most instances ungathered or 
unseen. And though Claudius, Tiberius, Pope Clem- 
ent VII, Charles V of France, Czar Alexis of Russia, 
and many other celebrated personages met their death 
from eating deleterious mushrooms, and everj^ year 
scores of families are poisoned through them, the escu- 
lent continues to occupy a highly exalted place among 
aliments. Ignorance and carelessness are almost en- 
tirely responsible for disastrous results, owing to its 
use as food, although ill effects naturally occur 
through over-indulgence in eating perfectly harm- 
less varieties, or where these may have passed the edible 
stage. Extremely rich in nitrogenous elements as 
well as in sapid properties, mushrooms should be 
sparingly partaken of. Sliced and placed on hot toast 
which has been moistened with broth and the juices 
of the cooking, one may often obtain all the flavour of 
the mushroom by its employment in moderate quanti- 
ties, and thus over-ingestion will be avoided. 

The study of fungi has always proved a fascinating 
one for the botanist. With tlie aid of nearly any of 
numerous monographs in which the various genera 
399 



TIIK PLKASl RES OF THE TABLE 

are described, as also faithfully reproduced in colours, 
the student and nature-lover may easily familiarize 
himself with at least tlie more important species. In 
his search for practical information he will be led 
through many a smiling scene removed from the 
haunts of man; while his chief precaution in his pur- 
suit out of doors need only be to avoid the Taurus 
and the deadly Amanita. The trained mycologist, 
however, will readily distinguish between the beauti- 
ful toxic Fly- Amanita and the inviting edible orange 
variety, which, having graced the table of a Roman 
emperor, received the name "Caesar's mushroom," 
whence its botanical appellation. This is the 
"Oronge" of the French and "Kaiserling" of the 
Germans, more prized, j^erhaps, than the INIorel, the 
white Ilelvella, or the handsome Chanterelle. Its 
odour is said to resemble a combination of vanilla and 
truffles. The variety rubescens is also regarded as one 
of the best of edible mushrooms. Of all fungi the 
Amanitas are most to be feared; and while numer- 
ous other kinds possess unwholesome and forbidden 
properties, the dangerously poisonous belong princi- 
pally to this single genus. To them Gerard's defini- 
tions, "excressences," "Toadstooles," "very venomous 
and full of poison," may well apply. 

By the seventeenth-century poet AVilliam Browne, 
bard of "Britannia's Pastorals" and "The Shepherd's 
Pipe," the mushroom is thus alluded to: 

"Down in a valley by a forest's side. 

Near where the crystal Thames rolls on her waves, 
I saw a mushroom stand in haughty pride 
As if the lilies grew to be his slaves." 

400 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

Then, after praising the daisy, violet, and other flow- 
ers whose beauty was overpowered by the fungus, he 
thus conchides a much-admired sonnet: 

"These, with a many more, methought complained 
That Nature should those needless things produce, 
Which not alone the sun from others gained, 

But turn it wholly to their proper use. 
I could not choose but grieve that Nature made 
So glorious flowers to live in such a shade." 

Where noisome toadstools crowd out violets and 
daisies, it may be right for poets to protest. As it is, 
we have little in the description to guide us to the spe- 
cies, whether it was a desirable or an undesirable kind. 
There is no allusion as to its toxic properties, nor yet 
to its colour ; and its seeming size — if the simile of the 
lilies be considered — may only be a license which poets 
are allowed. But the bard of Tavistock, whose "oaten 
melodye" still rings sweet and clear, has written too 
lovingly of trees to suppose he could perceive no use 
or beauty in a striking vegetable growth; and there- 
fore the particular form he refers to would appear 
to have been a noxious one. 

Surely, it was not the lovely mauve-coloured Cor- 
tinarius, that seeks the "forest's shade"; the expanded 
pea-green cope of the sweet and nutty Russula; or 
the glowing orange hood of the dulcet Lactarius that 
incurred his disapproval! Nor can one conceive it to 
have been the tall-stemmed, fluted-capped Coprinus, 
or the stylish parasolled Lepiota, which stands as up- 
right as the stilted Bartramian sandpiper, and that 
is held in equal esteem by the epicure. Rather let us 
401 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

suppose it was the great poison Amanita, which has 
slain its thousands, and whose brilhant reds and sal- 
mons and yellows, and white scales borne aloft on their 
hollow pedestal, cry aloud from every gill, "Beware!" 
Or if it was not this or the equally deadly A. phal- 
loides on which his graceful sonnet was based, it must 
liave been the Lycoperdon which cast its shade upon 
the violets — the giant pufF-ball that the poet did not 
recognise as a valuable food product when neatly 
sliced and fried, and that it is still the rule to kick 
out of one's way. 

In like manner, one is curious to know what was 
the enormous fungus or mushroom Thoreau describes 
as meeting on one of his rambles, and which, in turn, 
incurs his malediction, — the huge thallogen he found 
and plucked high up on the open side of a dry hill, 
in the midst of and rising above the thin June grass, 
its sharply conical parasol in the form of a sugar- 
loaf slightly turned up at the edges, which were rent 
half an inch for every inch or two. The whole length, 
he states, was sixteen inches, the cap being six inches 
long by seven w4de, the stem about one inch in diam- 
eter and naked, the top of the cap pure white within 
and without. He mangels how its soft cone ever 
broke through the earth. It represents to him a vege- 
table force which may almost make man tremble for 
his dominion. It carries him back to the era of the 
formation of the coal measures, the age of the Saurus 
and the Pliosaurus, when bull-frogs were as big 
as bulls. What part has it to perform in the economy 
of the world? It brought before him pictures of 
parasols of Chinese mandarins ; or it might have been 

402 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

used by the great fossil bull-frog in his walks. Re- 
turning home with it, he placed it in the cellar to note 
its decay. Like the mighty, it fell. By night there 
remained not more than two of the six inches of the 
height of the cap, and it went on rapidly melting from 
the edges upward, spreading as it dissolved till it was 
shaped like a dish-cover and the barrel head beneath 
it and its own stem looked as if a large bottle of ink 
had been broken there. It defiled all it touched. Is 
it not a giant mildew or mould? he inquires. The 
offspring of a night, it was wasted in a day. One 
thinks of Coprinus comatus — a colossal specimen of 
the "shaggy mane"; and doubtless this was the spe- 
cies encountered by the Walden sage, rearing its silver 
shaft through the thin June grass in his earlj^ morning 
tramp to Pinxter Spring. 

Who has not seen and w^ondered at the Fairy-ring, 
dotting the lawns or pastures, with its eccentric habit 
of growing in circles or arcs of circles, and shrinking 
and expanding under the influence of drought and 
moisture? Yet how few are acquainted with its admir- 
able qualities! But even here one must distinguish 
between the false and the true, and not mistake it for 
two of its genus, the poison bufF-coloured Cham- 
pignon and poison Fairy-ring, which it resembles and 
with which it is sometimes found associated. In like 
manner, the rufous hues of several edible Russulas 
must not be confounded with the engaging crimsons 
of the alveolate Boletus, or the brilliant shades of the 
unwholesome R. emetica, one of the most tempting 
of fungi to the eye. Its glowing satiny scarlet cap, 
set off by its white stem and gills,, forms a dash of col- 
403 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Duration on tlic woodland carpet that immediately 
challenges admiration. With various others of the 
alluring but dangerous fungi, it suggests some lus- 
cious tropic fruit, the flame of tulips, or the flush of 
Ghent azaleas. What a revel of reds, what greens and 
golds, what soft violets and greys, what rich russets 
and maroons are not unfolded by these strange fun- 
goid flowers! The beefsteak-mushroom (Fistulina 
hepatica) is familiar to many as it reveals its red vel- 
vety layers or shelves on the dead trunks of oaks and 
chestnuts in the midsummer woods. But despite its 
appetising name, it has a somewhat acid flavour and 
leathery taste, and cannot be said to possess very 
l^alatable qualities, conditions also shared by the com- 
mon Agaricus ostreatus, or oyster-mushroom. 

While the canned French button-mushroom of com- 
merce is not to be compared with the same species in its 
freshly gathered stage, it is nevertheless useful as a 
garnish, and possesses a certain flavour. Far difl'er- 
ent is the large French cepe, one of the most delicious 
of esculents, corresponding to the German "Stein- 
pilz" and our own edible Boletus, which is much less 
known than it deserves to be. Of the French Boletus 
there are two principal varieties — the cepe franc a la 
tete noir or charhouuier, common to oak woods, and 
the tete roiisse or hnnie, common to chestnut woods. 
The former is much more esteemed, and is most abun- 
dant in the southern departments. These, like the 
truflle in the preserved state, should be as fresh as 
possible, and those of the previous autumn gather- 
ing, put up au naturel in large cans, be selected in 
preference. Boletus edulis, though not over-plentiful 

404 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 

with us, may be found during warm, damp weather 
from July to September in woods and their margins, 
and sometimes in open places. Prepared a la borde- 
laise, it is a most delicious and nutritious dish, a form 
of preparation that may be utilised to advantage with 
many other firm-fleshed species. Dumas' favourite 
mode of preparing them was after Vuillemot's recipe ; 
and for those who are not fond of oil, which the borde- 
laise and provenc^ale manner calls for, this will doubt- 
less prove more acceptable: 

"Cut and chop the stems, adding minced parsley, bread- 
crumbs, shallots, fresh butter, 'and a clove of chopped garlic ; 
make a pate of it all, season with salt, pepper, and a little 
allspice, garnish the bottom of the cepes, sprinkle some bread- 
crumbs on top, brown in a hot oven, and serve." 

Here again, as Baron Brisse would say, "the trouble 
is trifling and the succulence extreme." 

The United States has a nimiber of edible Boleti, 
some distinctive and some identical with the best 
French species. Unfortunately, the genus contains 
several deleterious sorts, and these frequently are not 
readily distinguishable from description alone. Sev- 
eral of the Boleti liave long been considered as among 
the most dangerous of the toadstool or mushroom 
tribe; but recent investigations tend to show that the 
majority are at least harmless, while many are most 
desirable. 

Of Morels and puff-balls none is said to be poi- 
sonous. The puff-ball, however, is unfit for eating, 
if not absolutely poisonous, after tlie formation and 
ripening of its spores; and in gathering puff-balls 
405 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

great care should be taken not to mistake for them 
several of the poison Amanitas in their younger stage, 
these being similarly enveloped in a spherical sack 
or volva. JNIost mushrooms, apart from the xVmanitas, 
are now regarded as not deadly poisonous. Indeed, 
INIcIlvaine declares that R. emetica, which he and 
others repeatedly partook of in liberal quantities while 
in the Carolinas, proved to be perfectly harmless. The 
viscid, glutinous types, all the so-called trembling 
toadstools, together with such as are unpleasant to the 
sense of smell, will of course be shunned, while those 
not well acquainted with fungi will also view with 
distrust the various beautiful and gorgeous species 
which haunt the shade. 

Xo reliance may be placed in the "test" of the silver 
spoon. The novice should first of all familiarise him- 
self with the more common species through some of 
the less technical treatises, or take a practical lesson 
from a specialist out of doors. The manner of distin- 
guishing doubtful varieties adopted by mycologists 
may also be utilised by the amateur: first be guided 
by the shape and smell, being careful to avoid all 
cup-shaped kinds, or those whose juices change colour 
on cutting; then taste sparingly without swallowing, 
when, if not acrid, burning, or disagreeable, a little of 
the juice may be swallowed the following day, increas- 
ing the amount day by day, if no feelings of nausea 
occur, until the wholesomeness of the species is dem- 
onstrated. By discarding all kinds with cups or sug- 
gestion of cups, the Amanitas will be avoided. "Any 
mushroom, omitting the Amanita, which is pleasant 
to the taste and otherwise agreeable as to odour and 

406 



TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE 



texture when raw, is probably harmless," says Gibson, 
"and may safelj'^ be thus ventured on with a view of 
establishing its edibility." Still, it is always well, 
even by the initiated, to remember the apothegm of 
Gavarni, "JNIushrooms are like men — the bad most 
closely counterfeit the good." 

Of the scores of treatises devoted to the subject may 
be specially instanced W. Hamilton Gibson's artistic 
volume,^ the finely illustrated "Report of the New 
York State Botanist," ^ Professor Atkinson's illus- 
trated "Studies of American Fungi," ^ and, finally. 
Captain Mcllvaine's elaborate and exhaustive mono- 
graph.^ 

Recipes for the cookery of mushrooms are abun- 
dant in the cook-books and treatises on fungi ; and, like 
the cook-books themselves, these vary from good to 



^ "Our Edible Toadstools and Mush- 
rooms, and How to Distinguish Thera. 
A Selection of Thirty Native Food 
Varieties Easily Recognizable by 
Their Marked Individualities, with 
Simple Rules for the Identification 
of Poisonous Species. By W. Hamil- 
ton Gibson. With Thirty Colored 
Plates and Fifty-seven Other Illus- 
trations by the Author. New York, 
Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1 893. ' ' 

2 "Annual Report of the State Bota- 
nist of the State of New York. Made 
to the Regents of the University, 
Pursuant to Chapter 3.5.5 of the Laws 
of 188.'i. By Charles H. Peck. Al- 
bany, James B. Lyon, Publisher, 
189.5. Second Edition, 1897." 

^ "Studies of American Fungi, 
Mushrooms Edible, Poisonous, etc. 
By George Francis Atkinson, Pro- 
fessor of Botany in Cornell Univer- 
sity and Botanist of the Cornell Uni- 
versity Experiment Station, Author 
of 'Studies and Illustrations of 
Mushrooms,' 'Biology of Ferns,' 
'Elementary Botany,' 'Les.sons in 
Botany.' With a Ciiapter on Re- 

407 



cipes for Cooking Mushrooms, by 
Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer ; on the 
Chemistry and Toxicology of Mush- 
rooms, by J. F. Clark; on the Struc- 
tural Characters of Mushrooms, by 
H. Hasselbring. With 200 Photo- 
graphs by the Author, and Coloured 
Plates by F. R. Rathbun. Ithaca, 
N. Y. : Andrus and Church, Pub- 
lishers, 1900." 

* "Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, 
Edible and Poisonous. One Thou- 
sand American Fungi. How to Se- 
lect and Cook the Edible; How to 
Distinguish and Avoid the Poison- 
ous, Giving Full Botanic Descriptions 
Made Easy for Reader and Student. 
By Charles Mcllvaine, President 
Philadelphia Mycological Centre, 
Honorary Member Salem County 
and Gloucester County, N. J., Medi- 
cal Societies; Assisted by Robert K. 
Macadam. Toadstool Poisons and 
Their Treatment, Instructions to 
Students, Recipes for Cooking, etc., 
etc. Indianapolis, U. S. A. : The 
Bowen-Merrill Companj% Publishers. 
Edition limited to 7jO copies." 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

bad and indifferent. Some general rules regarding 
their proper pre^^aration are well and briefly laid 
down by the INIarquis de Cussy in his "Art Culi- 
naire" : 

"This kind has a thick and firm texture — 3'ou will see that 
it is cooked long. This other has a fine and tender flesh — you 
will cook it gently in a hermetically sealed receptacle in order 
that its light particles, full of life and dainty fragrance, are 
not dissipated. If 3'our mushrooms contain a fixed and resin- 
ous matter, sprinkle them with a dry wine to dissolve this 
sapid principle. With these plants you may make intoxi- 
cating mixtures, unique infusions. Turn to Carcme, he will 
guide you and tell you what wine belongs to such and such 
kinds — whether Pomard with its fresh taste, or Saint- 
Georges; whether the delicate and sparkling Ai, or the 
stomachic Haut-Brion. Read also the witty and elegant 
pages of M. Joseph Roques." 

The group of fungi known as mushrooms and toad- 
stools constitutes a valuable accessory, both in them- 
selves and in their properties of accentuating the fla- 
vour of other foods; and to those who are capable of 
distinguishing their many delicious species they may 
form, through a considerable portion of the year, a 
marked addition to the variety and pleasures of the 
table. 




408 



m'-m 




ipiip'' 



i^ 



SALLETS AND SALADS 



"First then to speak of Sallets, there be some simple, some com- 
pounded, some only to furnish out the table, and some both for use 
and adoruatiou. " — Gkrvaise Markham: The English Housewife. 



TO remember a successful salad is generally to re- 
member a successful dinner; at all events, the 
perfect dinner necessarily includes the perfect salad. 
The mere process of salad-making is among the most 
simple of all those that appertain to the table : a little 
oil, a little vinegar, of salt and pepper each a little, 
the onion and the mixing, with such other herbs and 
condiments as the artist may elect. And yet an unex- 
ceptionable salad is as rare in the average household 
as a piece of old Gubbio, or a fine old Ghiordes prayer- 
rug. Seldom, indeed, is this refreshing dish met with 
as one usually finds it in France — crisp, tender, and 
appetising, with none of its ingredients j)erceptibly 
409 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

dominant in tlie liaisofi which, first pleasingly ad- 
dressing the taste, is afterwards destined to soothe and 
tranquillise digestion. The reason is not difficult to 
analyse; the happy touch which is necessary in salads 
and sauces being largely a matter of individual ad- 
dress and a growth of advanced gastronomy. For in 
the preparing of salads no formula that is absolute 
may be given, success depending upon practice, a cor- 
rect taste, and minute attention to detail. Here, as in 
everything else that is faultless, care and experience 
are factors requisite to attainment. But though an 
infallible recipe may not be laid down, certain broad 
lines may be sj^ecified, the observance of which, with 
application, will render a good salad possible even 
to the neophyte. 

At every season of the year some of the innumer- 
able products of the vegetable world present them- 
selves to be converted with the aid of the caster from 
the crude into the finished form; and more is the pity 
that the artists are not as numerous as the esculents. 
From the first tributes of the hot-bed — the lettuces, 
radishes, and garden-cress of early spring, and the 
,cos, lettuces, and water-cresses of summer to the en- 
dives of autumn and corn-salad and chicory of win- 
ter, one has an abundance of material to choose from 
in what may be broadly designated the lettuce tribe, 
alone. When to these are added other esculents like 
celery, the tomato, cucumber, potato, beets, carrots, 
beans, celery-root, celery -turnip, etc., together with 
the manifold lierbs and bulbous plants that may be 
utilised in connection with tliem, surely the roast 
should never be lacking in this its most harmonious 

410 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

appoggiatura, or the supper-table fail in one of its 
greatest attractions. 

The salad imparts a zest to the dinner that were 
otherwise unattainable. What were those most delec- 
table of game-birds that reward the sportsman's skill 
— the snipe and the partridge — without it? It was 
rightly held by Evelyn that sallets are an essential 
part of the daily food of man, and that no dinner is 
complete without one ; although those who are not con- 
firmed devotees of the salad-bowl might possibly 
prove sceptical as to two forms which he specifies in 
"Sylva," — "I am told that those small young Acorns 
which we find in the Stock-doves Craws are a delicious 
fare, as well as those incomparable Salads of young 
herbs taken out of the maws of Partridge at a certain 
season of the year, which gives them a preparation far 
exceeding all the art of Cooker}^" 

Of the virtues of lettuce, at any rate, there can be 
no doubt, Parkinson having declared that "Lettices 
all cool a hot and fainting stomache," and Gerarde 
averring that "Lettuce cooleth the heate of the stom- 
ache, called the heart-burning, and helpeth it when 
it is troubled with choller." And if these assertions 
be not sufficient, we have Savarin's assurance that 
"salad refreshes without weakening, and comforts 
without irritating"; not to mention the dictum of his 
illustrious predecessor La Reyniere, that "the insepa- 
rable partner of the roast may reappear at each meal 
without ever wearying." In 1758 a German work by 
J. F. Scluitze was published in Lei])zig witli the title, 
"Treatise on the Advantages and Disadvantages of 
Salads." It is difficult to imagine how a German 
411 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

could find aught but delight in this form of food, un- 
less the native black radish was alluded to, or possibly 
the cucumber when improperly served. Ratke^let us 
at once accept the unqualified encomium of Jack Cade 
while in Iden's Kentish garden, — "I think this word 
'sallet' was born to do me good." By the majority, 
the name of Sydney Smith is held to be almost syn- 
onymous with that of salad; and even though his 
recipe be widely familiar, it may not be overlooked 
in considering the literature of gastronomy: 

"Our forte in the culinary line" [says the witty prelate] 
"is our salads ; I pique myself on our salads. Saba always 
dresses them after my recipe. I have put it into verse. Taste 
it, and if you like it I will give it you. I was not aware how 

much it had contributed to my reputation till I met Lady 

at Bowood, who begged to be introduced to me, saying she had 
so long wished to know me. I was of course highly flattered 
till she added, 'For, Mr. Smith, I have heard so much of 
your recipe for salads, that I was most anxious to obtain it 
from you.' Such and so various are the sources of fame. 

"To make this condiment your poet begs 
The pounded yellow of two hard-boil'd eggs; 
Two boiled potatoes, pass'd through kitchen sieve, 
Smoothness and softness to the salad give. 
Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl, 
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. 
Of mordant mustard add a single spoon, 
Distrust the condiment that bites so soon ; 
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault 
To add a double quantity of salt. 
Four times the spoon with oil from Lucca crown. 
And twice with vinegar procured from town ; 

412 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

And, lastly, o'er the flavour'd compound toss 
A magic soup^on of anchovy sauce. 
Oh, green and glorious ! Oh, herbaceous treat ! 
'T would tempt the dying anchorite to eat ; 
Back to the world he 'd turn his fleeting soul, 
And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl. 
Serenely full, the epicure would say, 
'Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day.' " 

This is the original and more familiar "A Recipe 
for Salad," as given by the author's daughter. Lady 
Holland, in her "JNIemoir" — a recipe that was subse- 
quently placed by the gifted divine in somewhat al- 
tered form, slightly abridged, and the quantity of 
the ingredients in one or two instances slightly 
changed. In the variant it will be seen that the por- 
tions of potato and anchovy were increased and the 
relative quantities of oil and vinegar were amended/ 

It is a question whether this celebrated recipe, so 
enthusiastically expressed and so tempting to the un- 
initiated who would naturally be led astray by the 
climax of the ode, has done more harm or more good 

^ "Two lar^e potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve, 
. Unwonted softness to the salad give. vy 

Of mordant mustard add a single spoon, '^ 

Distrust the condiment that bites so soon; 
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault 
To add a double quantity of salt. 
Three times the spoon with oil from Lucca crown, 
And once with vinegar procured from town. 
True flavour needs it, and j'our poet begs 
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs; 
Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl. 
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. 
And, lastly, on the flavoured compound toss 
A magic teaspoon of anchovy sauce. 
Then though green turtle fail, though venison's tough, 
And ham and turkey are not boiled enough. 
Serenely full, the epicure may say, 
'Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day.' " 

413 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

in the important interests of salad-making — whether 
the evil ineulcated in the prescription as a whole has 
not overbalanced the good results of extolling the vir- 
tues of salad itself. The niceties of salad-making are 
so subtle — so little may make or mar — it were unwise 
to prescribe either eggs or potato to the inexperienced. 
The ancliovy sauce must, perforce, be banislied as fa- 
tal; while mashed potatoes should always be used 
with discretion. In corn-salad a little potato assuredly 
adds to the unctuousness ; and where lettuce is in- 
clined to be tough or stringy, it may be advanta- 
geously employed. It is likewise eminently useful 
where the vinegar may have been dealt out too liber- 
ally. But with tender, brittle, well-blanched cos or 
endive, who would think of utilising either egg or 
potato! And how may mustard be appropriately 
blended with chicory, water-cresses, or radishes, so rich 
themselves in pungency? In the employment of con- 
diments one should ever well consider tlie special 
greenmeat to be treated, or what JNIontaigne has 
termed "the differences of Sallets according to their 
seasons." Cayenne, tabasco, and garlic are yet more 
dangerous in unpractised hands, and may readily, like 
the brass of an orchestra run riot, drown with their 
dissonance the arpeggio passages and more dulcet 
notes of the other instruments. 

All things considered, the counsels to the little boys 
and girls in the olden French reader, "Roti-Cochon," 
such as "the ham of the pig, well minced, is good to eat, 
but not without drinking," and "fresh eggs and salt 
herrings are good for Lent and other days either fat 
or meagre, according to one's appetite and the state 

414 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

of the market," are perchance safer gastronomic 
guides than the recipe of the worthy English preb- 
endary. For in any formula bearing upon the fash- 
ioning of salads for the benefit of the many, it is 
better to hold strictly to oil, vinegar, pepper, salt, and 
onion, and thus create no confusion in the mind of the 
tyro, who should proceed by degrees until he becomes 
proficient in the art, — 

"And thus, complete in figure and in kind, 
Obtains at length the salad he designed." 

But Sydney Smith has contributed such a host of good 
things, that any slight divergence from orthodoxy in 
his salad may be freely forgiven. Infinitely more 
baneful than anchovy sauce is the bottled "salad- 
dressing" of commerce, in whatever guise it may ap- 
pear — that milky, mysterious compound which is set 
upon certain restaurant and hotel tables, and through 
the cajoleries of the merchant-grocer or blandish- 
ments of the advertiser often even invades otherwise 
respectable households. As for the abominations that 
so frequently masquerade as "pure olive-oil," and 
boldly flaunt themselves as "wine vinegar" in many 
hostelries, they are too dreadful to consider; and 
one's only recourse is to order them off, with the cat- 
sup, pepper-sauce, sour pickles, and other "incongru- 
ities of good cheer," and subsist in imagination on 
the salads that have been. 

If oil has been termed the soul of a salad, it is no less 
true that vinegar is its vivendi causa. There should 
be no trouble in procuring excellent virgin olive-oil, 
415 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

French or Italian, at a moderate price. It should be 
bright and linii)id, and possess a delicate, not a strong 
flavour of tlie olixe from the first gentle pressing of 
the slightly underripe fruit. The juice expressed 
by heavy crushing of overripe fruit is to be avoided, 
being dark in colour and possessed of a strong taste. 
No other product, however refined or clarified, or how- 
ever vaunted in the interests of trade, can take the 
place of olive-oil. For those who are indifferent to 
quality, cottonseed oil, as well as the juices of count- 
less other seeds, will continue to be supplied or used 
as adulterants in connection with olive-oil. Good oil, 
like good wine, is a gift from the gods. The grape 
and the olive are among the priceless benefactions of 
the soil, and were destined, each in its way, to promote 
the welfare of man. 

It is even more rare to find good vinegar than good 
oil or wine on the average hotel, restaurant, or house- 
hold table. Pure cider or sound wine vinegar should 
alone be employed, and this is best obtained by making 
it one's self and not trusting to the labels and brands 
of commerce. The best wine vinegar is that made 
from red Bordeaux or red or white Burgundy ; the best 
cider vinegar being the product of fine, selected apples 
like the Russet or Xorthern Spy, Avith absolute cleanli- 
ness in manufacture. The liquid should draw clear 
and be possessed of a fresh vinous fragrance; and 
no other material should be mixed with it than what 
is necessary of the same kind for replenishing the 
barrel. Where vinegar is excessively sharp, it may be 
corrected, when using, by the addition of a little Bor- 
deaux wine. Lemon juice is an excellent substitute 

41G 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

for vinegar where this may be lacking in quahty ; and 
by some is preferred in the dressing of deHcate salads 
like cos and lettuce. The use of tarragon vinegar is 
extremely unadvisable in company dinners. To many 
it is very disagreeable; and even to those who might 
not be averse to it occasionally, its frequent abuse 
causes them to anathematise instead of bless the ar- 
chitect of the salad. 

As regards pepper, the adulterated powdered ar- 
ticle is far superior to the genuine Piper nigrum ; the 
white pepper being the same condiment freed from 
its outer husk by maceration in water and subsequent 
rubbing. The genuine black peppercorn is much too 
spicy and high-flavoured to enter largely as a salad 
component; and where it is laboriously ground out 
from a mill at table, as is often the case, — the host pre- 
occupied with the task where he should be consider- 
ing the sequence and temperature of his wines, — it is 
always coarse; while its pronounced resemblance to 
allspice mars the delicacy which is the charm of a 
salad. Moreover, the energy which should be ex- 
pended upon the mixing, where the nature of the salad 
renders it advisable to be made just before serving, 
is largely spent upon the exacting process of turning 
the box-wood mill.^ 

"The difference between a perfect salad and one 
that has failed is immense," says the observant Baron 
Brisse. It must be remembered that in salad- 
making many forms of the crude material may not 

1 "As for the pepper, never use the per worthy to titillate the papillae 

powdered pepper that you buy at the of a eiviUsed man is that ground out 

fjroeer's and which has f2:enerally lost of the peppercorn, at the moment 

its flavour before it reaches the depths of use, in a little hand-mill." — Thko- 

of the pepper-caster. The only pep- dori: Child : Delicate Feasting. 

417 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

be prepared to advantage immediately before serving. 
Among such may be included corn-salad, dandelion, 
curled endive, cabbage, and all species of lettuce, 
endive, or chicory that may be in the least coriaceous. 
These require to be prepared a considerable period 
before using and to be thoroughly mixed, even to 
pressing them with the fork and spoon, in order that 
the dressing may be partly absorbed by the leaves to 
render them tender. The same rule will apply to all 
species in which the bitter element is ])ronounced. 
Thorough mixing should never be neglected. The 
bowl should be ample, the material dry and freshly 
plucked, and the onion, chives, parsley, celery, or 
whatever herbs are employed should not be chopped 
until just before they are required. Above all, a 
salad, like white wine, should be served cold. 

The too frequent latter-day custom of creating a 
separate course of salad and cheese, in order to pro- 
long the number of courses, is incongruous. The 
salad belongs to the roast, and it should not be called 
upon to perform the service of a separate bridge be- 
tween this and the sweets. The mission of the salad 
is to correct the too liberal ingestion of rich and fatty 
substances, to prepare for the dessert, to stimulate 
and divert the taste, and to promote stomachic har- 
mony at a time when the appetite has begun to flag 
and the palate is impatient of a long delay between thfe 
roast and the demi-tasse. 

It is next to impossible, as has already been re- 
marked, to give absolute directions for the compound- 
ing of a salad, so far as the precise amount of each 
component is concerned, some exacting more oil and 

418 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

salt, some more vinegar and pepper than others — the 
acidity of vinegar withal being an extremely variable 
quantity. Some are enhanced by mustard or red 
pepper, and with some the pounded yellow of the egg 
and mashed potato are improvements. The place of 
the salad, too, requires to be considered — whether it 
is to be an accompaniment of the roast or is designed 
as something more substantial for the luncheon or sup- 
per-table. In the latter case a macedoine of freshly 
cooked vegetables composed of beets, potatoes, tur- 
nips, carrots, parsnips, Lima beans, cauliflower, celery- 
turnip, etc., might be excellent, whereas it would 
hardly prove appropriate with roast game at the din- 
ner. After all,^ — to revert to formulas, — the best re- 
cipe for a salad, perhaps, is the oft-quoted Sjianish 
proverb which calls for a quartet to compose it — a 
spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counsellor 
for salt, and a madman for mixing. 

An excellent addition to nearly any form of salad 
is chopped onion, parsley, and celery. Some onion, 
however small a quantity, is invariably required, un- 
less chives be used instead, or the bowl be rubbed with 
garlic, or bread rubbed with garlic be stirred in, for 
those who may prefer. Of the several modes of mix- 
ing salads, each of which is extolled by different au- 
thorities, some may be better than others, but all are 
good, as a philosopher has observed with respect to the 
merits of whiskey. And of these different methods, 
again a distinction needs to be made according to 
the material. Once more rt may be said, plus fa 
change, plus c'cst la memc chose, and that alone 
through practice and intelligent study of the perspec- 
419 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

tive of blending may the art of salad-making be mas- 
tered. 

As simple and as good a so-termed French dress- 
ing as any for general use is to add to the minced 
onion the requisite quantity of salt, letting this stand 
for five or ten minutes ; then, after adding to this the 
proper quantity of oil, vinegar, and pepper, stir 
thoroughly and pour over the salad. If English mus- 
tard is required, this should be previously incorpor- 
ated with the oil. The result still depends upon the 
fine adjustment of the ingredients, the mixing, and 
the quality and character of the material. 

Another method is to mix the salt and mustard, 
where mustard may be employed, with the oil, incor- 
porating them by degrees, then adding the vinegar; 
pepper the salad material separately, and lastly pour 
on and mix in tlie dressing thoroughly. Separate pep- 
pering of the leaves, however, possesses no advantage ; 
on the contrary, it is more trying to the eyes, and the 
pepper is much less evenly distributed. 

A third method consists in placing the necessary 
salt and pepper in the salad-spoon, then pouring the 
vinegar into the spoon and stirring with the fork until 
the salt and pepper become well amalgamated with 
the vinegar. This is subsequently to be well mixed 
with the salad material, on which chopped onion and 
herbs have been placed, vigorously agitated, and af- 
terwards, when the oil has been added, mixed a second 
time. By the jewelled white fingers of a })retty and 
well-gowned hostess who has a knack at salad-mak- 
ing this formula may be executed at table with highly 
artistic results. 

420 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

There is finally the plan adopted by Chaptal, which 
consists in saturating and mixing the salad material 
with oil, seasoned with pepper and salt, before em- 
ploying the vinegar. By this treatment the salad can 
never become too acid, for should the vinegar happen 
to be excessive, it slips over the oil to the bottom of 
the bowl. This means, while advantageous for tender 
;cos or lettuce, is not so desirable for any material that 
may have a tendency to toughness, as the vinegar may 
not as readily penetrate and soften the leaves. Good 
oil, vinegar, and pepper and careful incorporating of 
the ingredients, with a judicious use of herbs, and the 
tact born of experience, count for everything in the 
preparation of salads. 

JNIayonnaise dressing of course belongs to certain 
greenmeat salads, as well as the so-called French 
dressing — the most easily prepared and wholesome 
of all. The mayonnaise is especially favoured by 
femininity, and the French dressing by the sterner 
sex; though for meat salads, as a general rule, the 
mayonnaise, mayonnaise a la ravigotte, or sauce pro- 
ven^'ale is prescriptive. 

Growing salad is an art of the kitchen-garden, in 
which soil, selection of varieties, watering, shading, 
blanching, and protection have their part. But with 
a little space and care, salads may be had by almost 
every one during the greater portion of the year. For 
late autumn and winter use, the different varieties of 
endive, corn-salad, and chicory are easily raised ; corn- 
salad requiring no other trouble than two or three 
sowings in August, a little attention in watering and 
shading, and the gathering of the hardy green tufts 
421 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

beneath the snow. I^ate endive calls for a dry, well- 
protected root-house, while chicory needs to be taken 
up by the roots and forced in boxes in the cellar, due 
attention being paid to excluding the light. Of this 
excellent winter salad, the comparatively new variety 
"Witloof," largely grown in Belgium for the Paris 
market, is an improvement on the old "Barbe de Ca- 
pucin." Of late years the useful and easily grown, 
broad-leaved Batavian endive has deteriorated, hav- 
ing become coarser-grained and often recalling the 
cabbage in flavour. Cos is the most difficult of all 
salads to grow under our tropical summer sun, and 
unless well grown — brittle, blanched, and free from 
bitterness — it is next to worthless. JNIany good vari- 
eties of lettuce have a tendency to run out, and these 
should be carefully watched by the gardener. 

On the restaurant cards salads usually appear with 
their French appellations, which are sometimes con- 
fusing. In France, for instance, chicory is generally 
termed endive, and endive is termed chicory. Let- 
tuce is naturally laitue, cos being known as romaine, 
broad-leaved Batavian endive as escarolle — the 
ciu'led-leaved varieties of endive being familiar as 
chicoree frisee. Corn-salad is the mache or doucette, 
chicory is the "Barbe de Capucin," though the variet}^ 
"Witloof" passes current as endive. There is no- 
thing mysterious, therefore, as some suppose, in 
French salads and French names of salads beyond 
the fact that in restaurants of the higher class special 
attention is paid to procure the best possible material 
from skilled market-gardeners, and the dressing is 

4,22 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

supposed to be performed by a competent x^ractitioner 
who has the best of condiments at command. 

"The field is never wholly void of cypress and tu- 
lip," saith a ghazel of Hafiz; "one goeth, but another 
yet appeareth in its place." It is much the same with 
the successive ])rofusion of sallets. By way of vari- 
ety, a salad of raw celery-root with a mayonnaise 
dressing, somewhat thinned, in which a generous 
amount of mustard has been blended, affords a pleas- 
ing distinction from celerj'- in the usual form and the 
green material which constantly offers itself; as does 
also an occasional salad of the scarcer celery-turnip, 
beloved by Europeans. Sliced radishes, and young 
green onions from the garden, as an accompaniment 
to the first trout or shad, need no apology. The appe- 
tising but indigestible and flatulent German black 
radish is not to be recommended, although one may 
retain the most grateful recollections of the potato, 
cucumber, and herring salads of the Fatherland. 

Spain has always borne a reputation for its salads 
in inverse ratio to that of its cookery; and if one is 
fond of pepper and peppers, green or red, as well as 
garlic, the Spanish salad, whether of tomato, cucum- 
ber, beans, potato, or lettuce, is to be commended. The 
Italian may be relied upon never to neglect garlic 
wherever any excuse for utilising it is presented ; but 
the Spaniard, in addition, deems it a heresy if the live 
pepper does not sting, stimulate, and permeate. 

For the highest expression of the potato-salad — • 
and the cucumber-salad should be equally included — 
we must go to the Germans, masters of sausage- and 
423 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

cake-making and eveni;hing appertaining to "Com- 
pots." However one may regard the Pumpernickel 
and the ^Nlaitrank, the specialties just enumerated 
must challenge our respect and admiration. Potato- 
salad is particularly appropriate with beer; and it is, 
therefore, natin-al that the home of JMiinchner and 
Xiirnberger should excel in its preparation. In mak- 
ing a potato-salad, the Teuton for once forgets the 
caraway seed and substitutes the onion. In all the 
restaurants, Wirthschafts, and beer-gardens where the 
hungry and the thirety throng, great bowls of it, 
dusted with the fresh greens of finely minced herbs, 
always stand ready for immediate use. It is served 
separately and employed with many other dishes — 
a chain of iiisset sausages may surround it, or it may 
inclose a mound of cheese, ham, or caviare. In some 
form it is ever present. Like jMontgomery's daisy, — 

"It smiles upon the lap of May, 

To sultry August spreads its charm, 
Lights pale October on his way. 
And tAvines December's arm." 

To attain the best results, young potatoes of a firm 
kind, with no tendency to mealiness, known as "salad- 
potatoes," are chosen, boiled in salt water, allowed 
to cool, and then sliced and seasoned ^^hile they are 
fresli. Potato-salad may be combined with numer- 
ous esculents; and of its complementary adjuncts, 
none blend better with it than corn-salad and water- 
cress. 

Deprived of the cucmiiber, tlie list of salads were 
equally shorn of one of its most useful and appre- 

424 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

ciated members. And whether, as Gerarde affirms, 
that "of the divers sorts — some greater, some lesser, 
some of the garden, some wilde, some of one fashion, 
and some of another — all of the cucumbers are of 
temperature cold and moist of the second degree, and 
yield unto the bodj'' a cold nourishment, and that 
very little and the same not good" — who would consent 
for a moment to have the cucumber eliminated from 
the list of edibles! Think of its hidden "Vertues"! 
"It openeth and clenseth, openeth the stoppings of 
the liver, helpeth the chest and lungs that are inflamed ; 
and being stamped and outwardly applied instead 
of a denser, it maketh the skin smooth and faire." No 
wonder it was such a favourite with Tiberius, who was 
never without it, and had frames made upon wheels, 
by means of which the growing fruit might be moved 
and exposed to the full heat of the sun ; while in win- 
ter they were withdrawn and placed under the protec- 
tion of frames glazed with mirror-stone. No wonder 
that Isaiah, in speaking of the desolation of Judah, 
declared: "The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage 
in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." 
The main point with the cucumber is to eliminate the 
prussic acid it contains, by slicing it and soaking it 
in ice-water and salt for a short time before using. 
Then, the Hock! — the shad, the whitefish, the pom- 
pano, the turbot, the sole! 

And when endive is nicely blanched, and the first 
dark-blue double violets appear in the greenhouse — 
though skies lower and the storm frown w^ithout — 
what in the varied round of the seasons presents itself 
more delicious than a blue-violet salad, with a flask of 
425 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

some noble vintage worthy to bear it company! The 
recipe, which cannot be too widely known, has been 
presented at length in a previous volume: ^ 

"There was a great buiicli of double violets on the table, 
the lovely dark variety {Viola odoratissima flore pleno) with 
their short stems, freshly plucked from the garden, and the 
room was scented by their delicious breath. 

"A bowl of broad-leaved Batavian endive, blanched to a 
nicety and alluring as a siren's smile, was placed upon the 
table. I almost fancied it was smiling at the violets. A blue- 
violet salad, by all means ! there are violets and to spare. 

"On a separate dish there was a little minced celery, parsley, 
and chives. Four heaped salad-spoonfuls of olive-oil were 
poured upon tlie herbs, with a dessert-spoonful of white wine 
vinegar, the necessary salt and white pepper, and a table- 
spoonful of Bordeaux. The petals of two dozen violets were 
detached from their stems, and two thirds of them Mere in- 
corporated with the dressing. The dressing being thoroughly 
mixed with the endive, the remaining flower petals were 
sprinkled over the salad and a half-dozen whole violets placed 
in the centre. 

"The lovely blue sapphires glowed upon the white bosom 
of the endive. 

"A white-labelled bottle, capsuled Yquem, and the cork 
branded 'Lur Saluces,' was served with the salad. You note 
the subtle aroma of pineapple and fragrance of flower ottos 
with the detonation of the cork — the grand vintages of Yquem 
have a pronounced Ananassa flavour and bouquet that steeps 
the palate with its richness and scents the surrounding at- 
mosphere. 

"Now try your blue-violet salad. 

"Is it fragrant.? is it cool? is it delicious.'* is it divine?" 

1 "The Story of My House": "A Blue- Violet Salad." 

42C) 



SALLETS AND SALADS 

The deep-golden, marrowy Yquem, creme, of 1861 
and 1864 is now alas! unobtainable; and even were it 
to be procured, it must ere this have parted with mucli 
of its marvellous bouquet and seve. But the violet jxo 
sheds its coloiu* and distils its perfume for the gather- 
ing. Other vintages, too, have been pressed and have 
mellowed along the classic banks of the Ciron and the 
Rhein, that may worthily accentuate the violet and 
endive as the crown of the repast. 




427 




SWEETS TO THE SWEET 



Jam jam efficaci do manus scientice.i 

Horace, Epode xvii, 1. 



HOWEA^'ER scholiasts may have interpreted 
Horace's line, — and by no two is it interpreted 
alike, — the repetition or intensification of the first 
word in connection with the thought that follows 
must certainly carry conviction to the gastronomer 
that no mere stress upon a common adverb was in- 
tended, but rather a definite allusion to some particu- 
lar object. The more the sentence is analysed, the 
greater seems the emphasis laid upon the power of 
sweets to attract and charm. Apart, moreover, from 
the iteration of the subject extolled, one is impressed 
by the force of the expression ''do mamis/' which 

^"Jam! jam! I yield me to thy potent charm." 

428 




"APRES BON VIN" 

From the engraving by Eisen in the Fermiers-Genercaux edition of the 

'• Contes et Nouvelles " (1762) 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

means here, not, as one would suspect, to shake hands ; 
but "I yield," "I surrender," "I throw up my hands" 
— the strongest form of complete capitulation. And 
when it is further considered that one who was so 
careful in his advice and hygienic precepts, as well 
as so dainty in epithet ( curiosa felicitas ) , has ex- 
pressed his love for an entremets sucre in such em- 
phatic terms, it should be conceded that woman is 
justified in her predilection for the final course of the 
dinner, which man is apt to decry. The question of 
dessert, indeed, is only another instance of where a 
man thinks he knows, but a woman knows better. 

Le dessert est tout le diner pour une jolie femme. 
Let her enjoy it and the sweet champagne or Muscat- 
Lunel that goes with it, even if to her opposite "things 
sweet to taste prove in digestion sour." For, after all, 
it is unquestionably to woman that we must look 
for the improvement of cookery. The highest art will 
still find its expression through the professional chef; 
the useful, the daily alimentation of the household, 
must depend upon the ministrations of the house- 
wife and her capacity for extending and improving 
the list of dishes a la bonne femme. Assuredly, appe- 
tising cookery will tend more than any other means to 
maintain the masculine element in good humour, and 
thereby foster a spirit of liberality and the condoning 
of feminine foibles. 

The dessert is said to be to the dinner what the 
madrigal is to literature— it is the light poetry of 
the kitchen, addressed largely to the gentler sex. 
To the finer fancy of woman, the many forms of 
dainties which figure in the last course are mainly 
429 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

due; and that they are not more appreciated by 
man is no doubt owing to the fact that the consump- 
tion of tobacco and the use of ardent spirits have 
bhmted his jjerceptivity in this respect. Herein he 
is the loser; the mission of the dessert being that of a 
comforter of the stomach, wliicli, ah'eady appeased, 
nevertheless craves a little reflex flattery tlu'ough the 
palate. There are those of the sterner sex, notwith- 
standing, who still preserve the sweet tooth of child- 
hood, and others who enjoy pastry equally with its 
most devoted feminine admirers. Charles I^amb held 
that a man cannot have a pure mind who refuses 
apple-dmiiplings. Tasso was so fond of sweetmeats 
that he even ate his salad with sugar. Henry VIII 
presented a manor to the inventor of a new pudding- 
sauce. Goethe adored sweet champagne, and of 
Horace's partialit}^ for sweets he has doubly as- 
sured us. 

For all such the cook whose pies are perfect will not 
have lived in vain; the more so as the artist in pie- 
making is usually an adept at frying, — and to bad 
frying and poor pie-making may be charged much 
of the misery inflicted upon mankind where eating is 
regarded solely as a necessary function. A cook, 
moreover, who can make fine puff-paste is more apt 
to succeed in all the more substantial parts of the art. 
So that to encourage the dessert and sweetmeats is to 
beguile and conciliate woman, and thus indirectly pro- 
mote progress in otlier branches of cookery. With 
a little tact and perseverance it becomes relatively 
easy to persuade her that her fondness for sweets is 
injurious to her complexion; and this much instilled, 

430 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

it is the less difficult to lead her by gradual steps to 
the perfection of the entree and dishes more favoured 
by man. 

There are comparatively few, nevertheless, who 
really are averse to the dessert if it unite all the quali- 
ties that should compose the final course — if it be light 
and palatable, if it flatter the eye, and if it convey 
the greatest amount of pleasure to the taste with little 
sense of fulness. Good pies or puddings and various 
entremets de douceur are as much a feature of the 
well-appointed dinner as a well-made salad; and all 
have their part to perform. Coming last in the order 
of the repast, like the peroration of a discourse, they 
should receive more than ordinary attention, both with 
respect to their immediate impression and the sensa- 
tion they leave. To the dessert is often unjustly at- 
tributed a consequent that really belongs to the repre- 
hensible practice of serving hrut champagne at the 
end of the dinner, whereby digestion is seriously dis- 
turbed through the acidity it necessarih^ provokes. 
Already pernicious during the early stages, it becomes 
still more baneful when appetite has palled. The 
lamb thus must answer for the crime of the wolf ;' and 
woman is held responsible for what is directly the 
fault of man himself. 

If a sparkling wine must be served at the end of a 
dinner, to the exclusion of the early portion, let it par- 
take of the nature of the dainties themselves, in order 
that it may leave the most dulcet souvenirs. 

But, apart from the dessert, sweets enter into many 
forms of aliments that lend variety and distinction 
to the table. Who is so wedded to aciditj^ as not to hail 
431 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

A\'ith renewed pleasure the appearance of a rum ome- 
lette, or that entremets par excellence — omelette aux 
confitures — if served b>^ a pretty woman at a dinner 
of two and accompanied by a Rhein Auslese of noble 
growth? The soufflee, too, has its charms, if woman 
be present, for which one should always be grateful. 
AVhat were the turkey without cranberry sauce, in 
which sugar forms a component, or a mallard without 
currant- jelly to match the rosy richness of his breast? 
But in lieu of this universal accessory to many forms 
of game, a pleasing variety maj^ be had if a lesson be 
only taken from the Germans, with whom the "Com- 
pot" is so highly esteemed in various guises and vari- 
ous grades of sweetness. Of such, one of the most 
delicious is composed of strawberries and sour cherries 
in combination, flavoured with Kirsch. An exquisite 
preserve of southern Germany is the "Hagenmark," 
which one sees in brimming pails in the market-places 
during November: a conserve prepared by the peas- 
ant women from the liips of the wild dog-rose, as 
vivid in colour as a cardinal by Vibert. 

As for the strawberry, so fragrant and delicious 
when fresh, but so deadly to the uric-acid diathesis, 
how safely it may be partaken of when, through ma- 
dame's deft manipulations, it attains the form of 
shortcake or preserves ! Served with sugar and cream, 
after baking, as a prelude to the winter breakfast, 
even the flatulence of the apple is dissipated and 
the fruit which tempted Eve becomes innocuous. 
Through sugar and stewing, the cin*rant loses its ver- 
juice, the raspberry under similar treatment is trans- 
formed, the acrid quince acquires new virtues, the 

432 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

piickeiy crab-apple diffuses a silken softness. Cooked 
with sugar and brandy, the peach may appeal to the 
most hardened total abstainer, and the fruit of the 
Psidium, through the magic touch of saccharine, at- 
tain a magnificent triumph as guava jelly. To re- 
move sugar from the kitchen were to deprive alimen- 
tation of many of its benefits and pleasures, as well 
as to rob woman of much of her allurement. She 
would become lean and scrawny, her rounded outlines 
would gradually disappear, the contours of her tailor- 
made gown would end by becoming rectilinear, and 
for her habiliment a strait -jacket would usurp the 
place of her proud corsage and bouffant petticoat. 
There would then be no more love-poetry, for there 
would exist no incentive for the poet, nor could a 
pretty heroine figure in a novel, or the bust of woman 
prove the most convincing illustration that the line 
of beauty is a curve. 

One should never lose sight of that excellent senti- 
ment of Blaze de Bury, which will apply to desserts 
as well. Qui ne vent point vieillir doit aimer les 
femmes, et, pour hien les aimer ^ il faut les aimer toutes. 
What a wave of grateful coolness the ice and its 
yet more seductive sister, ice-cream, contribute when 
the dog-star reigns and cicadas have begun to shrill! 
Who among the calumniators of sweets could wish 
them banished in support of a fallacious theory that 
sweetmeats render woman more capricious, and are 
injurious to the roses and lilies of her skin? For the 
plainer form of these refreshing entremets we are in- 
debted to Catherine de' JNledici and her cooks who 

accompanied her to France from Italy, where ices 
433 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

were already much esteemed. The discoverer of ice- 
cream is said to be a French chef in the employ- of 
the Due (le Chartres, who exultingly set the disli be- 
fore him on a hot day in 177 J). This was subsequent 
to the discovery of tlie pate de Chartres, w^hich, accord- 
ing to Anatole France, is of itself sufficient to make 
one revere the country of its origin. 

About this period the baba, beloved by the fair sex, 
met with great favour in France. The baba was the 
invention of King Stanislas Leszcynski of Poland, a 
noted epicure, to make amends for the harshness of his 
name ; its ingredients being German yeast, flour, but- 
ter, eggs, cream, sugar, saffron, candied citron, Co- 
rinthian raisins, currants, and Madeira, JNIalaga, or 
rum. It is said to be a difficult entremets to "seize," 
so as to preserve its attractive reddish colour, which 
should recall a late October aftergh^w. It at once ap- 
pealed to the sweet tooth of femininity, even though 
that most delectable of garden herbs, angelica, wlien 
candied, was overlooked among the sweet ingredients. 
Like the truffle as described by Savarin, the baba w'as 
supposed to render w^oman more plastic and man more 
expansive, — rien que le voir, les yeiLV rient et les coeurs 
chantent. 

The date of the introduction of plum-pudding and 
mince-pie is difficult to ascertain. As early as 1424 
appears a mention in an English bill of fare of "Vy- 
aunt ardent," which suggests the former and may 
have been its precursor. The original recipe of either 
must have been formidable to follow when one reflects 
how even now they are provocative of a nightmare, 
unless executed by the deftest of hands. Plum-pud- 

434 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

ding in anything like its present form does not ap- 
I)ear in cookery books anterior to 1675. Previous to 
this, plum-porridge, which always served as a first 
course at Christmas, was prepared by boiling beef or 
mutton with broth thickened by brown bread. When 
half cooked, raisins, currants, prunes, cloves, nutmeg, 
mace, ginger, and other condiments were added, and 
after the mixture had been thoroughly boiled it was 
served with meats — a dish fit for the digestive ca- 
pacities of Jack the Giant-killer. An essentially 
English product, the plum-pudding has rarely found 
favour in France, although Louis XVIII was ac- 
customed to serve it at Christmas, and it has long had 
a place on the menus of many Parisian restaurants. 
A very elaborate recipe for "Plumbuting" is given 
by Beauvilliers; but preferable to all formulas is the 
comparatively simple one of Blot, a dish which may be 
digested as well as enjoyed, and which is within the 
range of the average cook. Of course plum-pudding 
is best during the holiday season, and best of all at the 
feast of Christmas day. 

JNIince-pie is an ancient English dish which Amer- 
ica has refined. The Year-Book of William Hone 
of the early part of the past century contains an ex- 
tended "Ode to the JNIince-Pye," which met the appro- 
bation of Scott, Lamb, and Southey. In this it is 
referred to as the "King of Cates," 

"whose pastry-bounded reign 
Is felt and own'd o'er pastry's wide domain ; 
Whom greater gluttons own their sovereign lord 
Than ever bowed beneath tlie dubbing sword. 



435 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

"Like Albion's rich plum-pudding, famous grown, 
The mince-pye reigns in realms beyond his own. 
Through foreign latitudes his power extends. 
And only terininiites where eating ends. 

"Sovereign of Gates, all hail ! nor then refuse 
This cordial off'ring from an English muse, 
Who pours the brandy in "libation free, 
And finds plum-pudding realiz'd in thee." 

But of all forms of pie, that with the apple for its 
basis is doubtless the most wholesome and by the ma- 
jority is most relished. A woman who is infallible 
in her apple-pies and successful with her sauces de- 
serves an annual trip abroad. But such, like first 
editions of "The Faerie Queene," are rare. No better 
instructions regarding the fashioning of apple-pies 
can be formulated than those of the late Henrj^ Ward 
Beecher, who so thoroughly understood women, gems, 
sweetmeats, and gardening. His counsels are worth}^ 
of Elia, and the housewife should commit them to 
memory : 

"There is, for example, one made without undercrust, in a 
deep plate, and the apples laid in full quarters ; or the apples, 
being stewed, are beaten to a mush and seasoned and put be- 
tween the double paste; or they are sliced thin and cooked 
entirely within the covers ; or they are put without seasoning 
into their bed, and when })aked the upper lid is raised and the 
butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar are added, the whole 
well mixed and the crust returned as if nothing had happened. 
But, oh ! be careful of the paste ! Let it be not like putty, nor 
rush to the other extreme and make it so flaky that one holds 
his breath while eating, for fear of blowing it away. Let it 

436 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

not be plain as bread, nor yet rich like cake. Aim at that 
glorious medium in which it is tender without being too fuga- 
ciously flaky ; short without being too short ; a mild, sapid, 
brittle thing, that lies upon the tongue, so as to let the apple 
strike through and touch the papillae with a more affluent 
flavour. But this, like all high art, must be a thing of inspi- 
ration or instinct. A true cook will understand us, and wG 
care not if others do not ! Do not suppose that we limit the 
apple-pic to the kinds and methods enumerated. Its capacity 
in variation is endless, and every diversity discovers some new 
charm or flavour. It will accept almost every flavour of every 
spice. And yet nothing is so fatal to the rare and higher 
graces of apple-pie as inconsiderate, vulgar spicing. It is 
not meant to be a mere vehicle for the exhibition of these 
spices in their own natures ; it is a glorious unity in which 
sugar gives up its nature as sugar, and butter ceases to be 
butter, and each flavoursome spice gladly vanishes from its 
own full nature, that all of them, by a conmion death, may rise 
into the new life of apple-pie. Not that apple is longer 
apple. It, too, is transformed ; and the final pie, though born 
of apple, sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon, is like none 
of these, but the compound ideal of them all, refined, purified, 
and by fire fixed in blissful perfection." 

"Do you eat pie?" was once asked of Emerson. 
"What is pie for?" was the ready and philosophic re- 
ply. "Pie, often foolishly abused," said Artenuis 
Ward, "is a good creature at the right time and in 
angles of thirty or forty degrees, although in semi- 
circles and quadrants it may sometimes prove too 
much for delicate stomachs." 

But think of the pies of two centuries ago! To 
appreciate the improvement which has taken place 
in the dessert and the preparation of sweet entre- 
437 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

mets, one has only to refer to oNIrs. Glasse or con- 
tenii)()raneous and previous treatises on cookery. One 
marvels equally at the strange recipes, the assimilative 
prowess of the dames of yore, and the progress of the 
centuries. Canon Barham, who never fails to intro- 
duce his bills of fare, though these may not always 
be strictly reliable from the point of view of the times 
and the manner of the service, presents this in "The 
Lay of St. Romwold" as the termination of an olden 
feast : 

"Then came 'sweets' — served in silver were tartlets and pies 
in glass. 
Jellies composed of punch, calves' feet, and isinglass. 
Creams and whipt-syllabubs, some hot, some cool, 
Blancmange, and quince-custards, and goosberry-fool." 

This was long before the dessert proper — from the 
French desservir, to clear the table — became an es- 
tablished course of the dinner; and when the sweet- 
ened dishes of eld might scarcely figure under the 
pretty Italian title of Giardinctto, or "little garden," 
sometimes applied to the dessei-t, and suggestive of all 
that is fragrant and ambrosial. 

While there is no reason foT supposing that sweet 
champagne was not as greatly relished by the women 
of Colonial times as it is to-day, it is true, notwith- 
standing, that, owing to the greater need of economy, 
thej^ were obliged to be content for the most part 
with saccharine tipples of a less expensive nature. 
Among such, besides mulled wine, was the sack-pos- 
set, a favourite drink at weddings and social festivi- 
ties, borrowed from England, with its numerous 

438 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

ingredients, and favoured alike by miss and matron. 
The recipe in rhyme for this concoction, after Sir 
Fleet^^'ood Fletcher, soon became as familiar as 
Sydney Smith's recipe for salad in the following 
century: 

"A recipe for all Young Ladies that are going to be Mar- 
ried. To make a Sack-Posset : 

From famed Barbadoes on the Western Main 

Fetch sugar half a pound ; fetch Sack from Spain 

A pint ; and from the Eastern Indian Coast 

Nutmeg, the glory of our Northern toast ; 

O'er flaming coals together let them heat 

Till the all-conquering Sack dissolves the sweet. 

O'er such another fire set eggs, twice ten 

New .born from crowing cock and speckled hen ; 

Stir them with steady hand, and conscience pricking 

To see the untimely fate of twenty chicken. 

From shining shelf take down your brazen skillet, 

A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it ; 

When boiled and cooked put milk and Sack to egg, 

Unite them firmly like the triple league. 

Then, covered close, together let them dwell 

Till i\Iiss twice sings, 'You must not kiss and tell !' 

Each lad and lass snatch up their murdering spoon. 

And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon." 

JNIetheglin and negus were well known to our fore- 
mothers. There is no record to show that they be- 
came partial to "sack," except as sweetened and spiced 
according to the manner of posset. It is recorded, 
however, that, eschewing the stronger punch composed 
of s])irits, they were fond of midled wine, jNIalaga 
and JNIadeira, and were far from disdaining the uni- 
439 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

versal beverage, cider, even in its "hard" form, when 
mulled. 

Cheese is naturally an obligatory portion of the 
dessert at all company dinners — at least at all dinners 
where men are present. By dint of persuasion, it 
has become tolerated by women, not a few of whom 
regard it. with favour if Rocquefort or Gorgonzola is 
in question, or even Camembert or Brie when per- 
fectly fresh. Its place in the order of the dinner is a 
matter somewhat in dispute. It figures variously 
after the roast, — as its successor before the sweets, 
or as the immediate precursor of the demi-tasse, — 
and it is also asked to do duty with the salad by some 
who elect to serve the salad as a course apart to succeed 
the roast. On the continent of Europe it is generally 
supposed to precede the coffee, after the sweets, and be 
ready for those who may not care for them; in Eng- 
land it is often served with celery before the dessert. 
The custom of serving it with the salad, which is purely 
American, is certainly not to be commended. The 
mission of cheese is twofold — to change the taste and 
to act as the concluding digestive. To subserve the 
latter purpose it should be old, if of a fine-grained 
kind ; and as a digestive few such are equal to Rocque- 
fort. As to its proper place at dessert, it must be rec- 
ognized that it accords best with the coffee and final 
glass of port or other dessert wine where these may 
be employed, and leaves the taste fresher when it con- 
cludes the repast. Let appropriate sweets be served 
with it for those who desire them, but let it not de- 
stroy the salad which belongs to the roast, or anticipate 
the dulcitudes of the final course. 

440 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

A chapter might be devoted to this suave product 
of the dairy, but it will be sufficient to present a form 
of serving it that will appeal to many, inclusive of 
woman. Like the fondue, it is of Swiss origin. In 
Switzerland, where cheese figures largely, there is 
known to the initiated a sweet entremets termed "the 
hunter's sandwich," composed of bread, fresh butter, 
cheese, and honey in combination, its only drawback 
being the too cloying nature of the honey. In Amer- 
ica this objection may be happily avoided by employ- 
ing tlie nectar of the sugar-maple in its stead, and 
the dish prove all the better either for the sportsman 
out of doors or served at the dinner with the dessert. 
On fresh bread cut in thin slices for its base, you will 
place a layer of the freshest of butter, then a layer 
of Brie or other fresh cream-cheese, and, finally, a 
gilding of maple-syrup. For the dessert it may be 
shaped in various ways, and made as dainty as fem- 
inine fingers can devise. Its virtues need no pane- 
gyric,— it will succeed the ices with as buoyant a grace 
as the daffodil follows the snowdrop of spring. Cap- 
tivated by its charms, the epicure will say, with the 
van-courier of Bishop Fuger in his chase for the ideal 
wine, "Est, est, est" ; while madame and mademoiselle 
will attach a new significance to the poet's mellifluous 
lines, — - 

"As the last taste of sweets is sweetest last. 
Writ in remembrance more tlian things long past," 

With the dessert the dinner ends; and with it, also, 
properly terminates a review of gastronom3\ It may 
be asked, however, after the somewhat extended re- 
441 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ference to cooks and cookery and the literature and 
ethics of tlic art, ^liich of the numerous manuals 
referred to, or of the countless existing works that 
have not heen enumerated, is the best and most ser- 
viceable for those who would perfect themselves in 
the subtleties of the range. The question is easier 
asked than answered. To specify any one authority, 
so far as any one w^riter on cookery may be considered 
authoritative, w^ere scarcely satisfactory — a compre- 
hensive answer being dependent to no inconsiderable 
extent upon the tastes, adaptabilities, and qualifica- 
tions of the j^erson concerned. As there is no one x^oet, 
moreover, who may satisfy all or even a single individ- 
ual, so there is no one author-cook or compiler who has 
yet compassed the subject. "The cuisine," says Beau- 
villiers, "simple in its origin, refined from century to 
century, has become a difficult art, a complicated sci- 
ence on which many authors have written, without 
having been able to embrace it in its entirety." 

The model cook-book — the manual that should ap- 
peal to all, the vade mecum that would instruct and 
delight the amateur, that would tell him just what 
he should know, eliminating all he should not know — 
is still numbered among things unaccomplished. So 
long as every chef is jealous of his every competitor, 
so long as the professionalist writes solely from the 
standpoint of his elaborately mounted kitchen, witli 
no deference to the requirements of the more modest 
household, so long as works on cookery continue to be 
a mere dry digest of the preparation of food, it will 
not be achieved. They have come nearer to such a 
work in France. But who may say that even Dumas' 

U2 




A AroAerdarrLr 
Chez Lcmrsier'Damsl Elzevter ^'.j6^^. 



LE PATISSIER FRANf'AIS 
Facsimile of title-page 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

sprightly though bulky treatise is perfect, or that any 
of the voluminous " 'Cuisiniers' des Cuisiniers" has 
indicated the perfect road to happiness? And of the 
enormous number of books on the subject, how many 
are not so technical as to be of little service, or so lack- 
ing in comprehensive grasj? as to fall utterly short of 
their aim? The perfect cook-book, as near as a cook- 
book can be perfect, has yet to find its author and its 
publisher. 

It may be assumed, therefore, that it will be written 
by an amateur — a man devoid of prejudices so far 
as any rivalry in his craft is concerned, whose sole ob- 
ject will be to write for his own pleasure and the 
gratification it will afford his readers. For, it will 
be readily perceived, a cook-book for the professional 
is one thing ; a manual for the amateur, another. 

To a lucid, delightful style and grace of expression 
its author will unite the widest familiarity with the 
cuisine of the past and the present. He will have at 
his beck and call a culinary library like that of Baron 
Pichon, an executive genius equal to Careme's, a phys- 
iological perceptivity I'ivalling that of Savarin, a 
knowledge of the subject in all that relates to its ma- 
terial sense as great as La Reyniere's. A man of 
unbounded capacities, whose appetite can never be ap- 
peased, he will himself have savoured the multitudi- 
nous dishes he treats of, before recommending them to 
others of less assimilative capabilities than his own. 
Thoroughly conversant with hygiene and the constit- 
uent elements of foods, he will add, as it were, to 
the qualifications of a gourmet and e])icurean mentor, 
the knowledge of a physician and chemist, or one who 
443 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

can distinguish the digestive sequents of different ar- 
ticles of diet. 

He will be a learned oenologist as well, accjuainted 
with the wines of all countries, their best growths and 
most desirable vintages; as also the wideh^ varying 
effects upon the system of different wines. Endowed 
with perfect physical faculties, furthered by long inti- 
macy with and daily use of wine, his sense of taste and 
smell will have attained the highest possible develop- 
ment, enabling him to trace and compare the flavours 
and ethers of different gro\^i:hs; thus indicating what 
one should avoid, as also what one should choose, ac- 
cording to individual requirements. Supplementing 
his monograph on wines will occur as its natural con- 
sequent a profound dissertation on gout, dealing at 
length with the true causes of the malad)^ in all its 
phases, and indicating a cure within the power of the 
wine-drinker to com^^ass without abstaining from the 
beverage he loves. Some magical lozenge that is 
guileless of colchicum, some marvellous elixir distilled 
in the alembics of the past, or some special essence of 
the vine itself will be prescribed, to be taken with the 
dinner, when the afflicted may once more eat and drink 
in moderation, "without fear and without reproach." 

The author will have travelled far and wide, and 
will intelligently contribute the spoils of his gastro- 
nomic chase, retrenching from a dish here and elabor- 
ating there, if need be, as he dispenses his appetising- 
formulas. Yet so delicate his taste, of such discrimi- 
nating nicety his judgment, tliat, barring individual 
dislikes for certain aliments, one may trust implicitly 
to the form of preparation he prescribes. From the 

444 



SWEETS TO THE SWEET 

manuscripts of the ancient monks he will have rescued 
many a simple though priceless dish, and from Bau- 
delaire, Theodore de Banville, and Jules Janin have 
committed many an unpuhlislied poem of the table 
to his storehouse of delights. And while conversant 
with all that is best in existing works by the great mas- 
ters of the art, as well as the lesser lights of the science, 
and quoting freelj'^ from them, he will nevertheless 
avoid the elaborate recipes and interminable menus 
that Gouff e and others pride themselves upon, which 
require a maitre-d'hotel to understand, a corps of as- 
sistants to execute, and a Croesus to liquidate. Spiced 
with anecdote and seasoned with humour and phi- 
losophy, his chapters will glide on in lucid flow, and 
his recipes leave no nightmares behind. His text will 
be free from grossness, and be tainted with no worn- 
out aphorisms ; so clear that all may understand, and, 
understanding, turn its counsels to practical account. 
He will be familiar, as a sportsman, with game ; and 
will have contemplated the masterpieces of Weenix, 
Sneyders, and Hondius to impart additional colour in 
his references to the wild furred and feathered tribes. 
And to the further embellishment of his text, he will 
also have studied the other great pictures of still-life 
of the old Dutch and Flemish schools, — the fowls of 
Hondecoeter; the fruits of Utrecht and De Heem; 
the fishes of Seghers; the flower-laden tables of Van 
Huysum and Jan Fyt; the kitchen-pieces beloved by 
Met7Ai and Zorg; the eating-bouts of Brockenburg; 
the gay Kermcsse and merrymakings of Brouwer, 
Teniers, and Ostade. Xor will his knowledge of the 
products of the vegetable world, apart from those em- 
445 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

ployed for food alone, — the spices and condiments 
that make or mar a dish, tliat aid or harm digestion, — 
he less carefully set forth upon his golden i)age. The 
volumes will he small, so they may he unhurdensome 
to peruse, as inviting in their letterpress as the dain- 
tiest of Elzevirs. In fine, a comhination of the quali- 
ties of the scholar, the master-cook, the j^ainter, the 
gastronomer, the sportsman, and the pantologist, as- 
sisted hy the skill of the hookmaker and etcher, will 
he required to compose the cook-hook par excellence. 
In the interval, while it yet slumbers upon the 
shelves of dreamland, one must remain satisfied as 
nearly as may be with the manuals that are already 
accessible; and, like the wind in the trees, draw a note 
here and a chord there from the existing strings of 
the harp of Good Cheer. 




U6 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A FEW among English, American, and French works, both 
ancient and modern, that relate to gastronomy and cook- 
ery are presented herewith. As may be perceived at a glance, 
the list is not intended to be comprehensive, so multitudinous 
are the monographs relating to the subject, but a mere index 
or signboard pointing to the nature of the vast and varied 
literature, both good, bad, and indifferent, that the topic 
has inspired. Works relating strictly to wines and alcoholic 
beverages have not been included, as these, though intimately con- 
nected with the table, belong more properly to a volume on the 
cellar itself. It will be observed that works by women predomi- 
nate in the English language, whereas, in French, masculinity for 
the greater part has superintended the larder and the sauce- 
pans and elaborated the literature of the art. The scholar who 
is especially interested in the bibliography of gastronomy may 
be referred to the valuable work of M. Georges Vicaire as the 
most comprehensive on the theme, particularly so far as foreign 
contributions to epulary literature are concerned. 

Evel3'n (John). Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets, 1706. 
(8vo.) 

The American Salad-book. By Maximilian De Loup. 
Second Edition. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1900. 
(8vo) pp. 144. 

Warner (Rev. Richard). Antiquitates Culinari^ ; or. 
Curious Tracts Relating to the Culinary Affairs of the 
Old English. London: Printed for R. Blamire, 1791. (4to) 
pp. 137- 

Apician Morsels; or. Tales of the Table, Kitchen, and 
Larder. By Dick Humelbergius Secundus. New York: J. & 
J. Harper, 1829. (8vo) pp. 212. (A volume largely pirated 
from Grimod de la Reyniere.) 

449 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

King (Wm.). The Art of Cookery. A Poem in Imitation 
of Horace's Art of Poetry. By the Author of a Tale of a 
Tub. Coqus omnia miscet — Juven. London: Printed, and are 
to be Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster, 1708. 
(Small folio) pp. 22. 

King (Wm.) The Art of Cookery. With some Letters to 
Dr. Lister and Others, etc., to which is added Horace's Art of 
Poetry, in Latin. Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1740. (8vo) 
pp. 160. 

Hayward (Anthony). The Art of Dining; or, Gastronomy 
AND Gastronomers.- London: John Murray, 1852. (4^ x 7 in.) 
pp. 137. 

Banquett of Dainties: For All Suche Gests that Loue 
MoDERATT Dyate. By Theo. Hackett. London, 1566. (8vo) 
pp. 42. 

Murrey (Thomas J.). The Book of Entrees. New York: 
White, Stokes & Allen, 1886. (4^ x 6 in.) 

Farmer (Fannie Merritt). The Boston Cooking-School 
Cook Book. By Fannie ^Nlerritt Farmer, Principal of the Bos- 
ton Cooking School. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1896. (8vo) 
pp. XXX, 567. 

Breakfast, Dinner, and Tea: Viewed Classically, Poeti- 
cally AND Practically. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1869- 
(6 X' 71 in.) pp. 351. 

Breakfasts, Luncheons and Dinners at Home. How to 
Order, Cook, and Serve Them. By Short. Sixth Edition. Lon- 
don: Kerby & Endean, 1886. (8vo) pp. 204. 

Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery. With Numerous Engrav- 
ings and Coloured Plates, Containing About 9000 Recipes. 
London, Paris, and New York: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. n. d. 
(Large 8vo) pp. xcvi, 1178. 

Ronald (Mary). The Century Cook-book. New York: 
The Century Co., 1895. (8vo) pp. 587. 

The Chafing-dish Supper. By Christine Terhune Herrick. 
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899- (12mo) pp. 112. 

450 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A Closet for Ladies and Gentlemen ; or, The Art of Pre- 
serving, Conserving and Candying. With the Manner how to 
make Diverse Kindes of Syrupes, and All Kinde of Banquet- 
ting StufFes, etc. London: Printed for Arthur Johnson, I6I8. 
(l6rao) pp. 190. 

The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme 
DiGBY, Kt., Opened. Whereby is Discovered several ways for 
Making of Metheglin, Syder, Cherry-Wine, etc., Together with 
Excellent Directions for Cookery, as also for Preserving, Con- 
serving, Candying, etc. London, 1677. (12mo.) 

Carter (Charles). The Compleat City and Country Cook; 
OR, Accomplish'd Housewife. Containing Several Hundred of 
the Most Approv'd Receipts in Cookery, Confectionary, etc. Il- 
lustrated with Forty-nine large Copper-plates. London, 1732. 
(8vo) pp. 280. 

Peckham (Ann). The Complete English Cook; or, Pru- 
dent Housewife. Being a Collection of the Most General, yet 
Least Expensive Receipts in Every Branch of Cookery and Good 
Housewifer}'^, etc. By Ann Peckham, of Leeds. The Third 
Edition. Leeds, 1770. (12mo) pp. 242. 

The Complete Family Piece. A very Choice Collection of 
Receipts in Cookery. Seventh Edition. London, 1744. (8vo.) 

Smith (E.). The Complete Housewife; or. Accomplished 
Gentlewoman's Companion. Being a Collection of upwards of 
Seven Hundred of the Most Approved Receipts in Cookery, 
Pastry, Confectionary, etc., etc. The Seventeenth Edition, with 
Additions. London: Printed for J. Buckland, etc., 1766. (8vo) 
pp. 364. 

The Complete Servant-maid. London, 1682. (12mo.) 

The Cook-book. By " Oscar " of the Waldorf (Oscar 
Tschirky, Maitre d'Hotel, the Waldorf). Chicago and New 
York: The Werner Co., 1896. (Large 4to) pp. 907. 

Reeve (Mrs. Henry). Cookery and Housekeeping. A Man- 
ual of Domestic Economy for I>arge and Small Families. Fourth 
Edition. Ivondon and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888. 
(8vo) pp. 540. 

451 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Kitchener (Dr. Wm.). The Cook's Oracle, Fourth Edition. 
London, 1822. (4^ x 7i in.) pp. xviii^ 545. 

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the 
Learned of Athen^us. Literally Translated by C. D. Yonge, 
B.A. 3 vols. London: Henry C. Bohn, 1854. (5x7^ in.) 

Child (Tlieodore). Delicate Feasting. New York: Harper 
& Brothers, 1890. (5^ x 6| in.) pp. 214. 

Newnham-Davis (Lieut. -Col.). Dinners and Diners: 
Where and How to Dine in London. A New Enlarged and 
Revised Edition. London: Grant Richards, 1901. (5 x 7 in.) 
pp. 376. 

Harland (Marion). The Dinner Year-book. New York: 
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878. (8vo) pp. 713. 

Domestic Cookery (A New System of). Formed Upon 
Principles of Economy. By a Lady. A New Edition, Cor- 
rected. London: John Murray, 1814. (4x7 in.) pp. xxx, 352. 

Early English Meals and Manners. London: The Early 
English Text Society, 1868. (5^ x 8| in.) 

Hoy (Albert Harris, M.D.). Eating and Drinking: The 
Alkalinity of the Blood. The Test of Food and Drink in 
Health and Disease. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1896. 
(5^ X 8 in.) pp. 304. 

Egg Cookery: One Hundred and Fifty Ways of Cooking 
AND Serving Eggs. By Alfred Suzanne, Twenty-eight Years 
Chef to the Earl of Wilton, now Chef to the Duke of Bedford. 
Second Edition. London: Newton & Eskell, 1887. (12mo) 
pp. 97. 

The Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. A Complete 
Dictionary of all pertaining to the Art of Cookery and Table 
Service, Illustrated with Coloured Plates and Engravings by 
Harold Furness, George Cruikshank, W. Munn Andrew, and 
others. Edited by Thomas Francis Garrett, etc., etc., etc. Lon- 
don: L. Upcott Gill. Philadelphia: Hudson Importing Co. 
8 vols. (Large 4to) pp. 1898. 

Markham (G.). The English Housewife. Containing the 
Inward and Outward Vertues which ought to be in a Compleat 

452 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Woman, etc., etc. Eighth Edition. London: George Sawbridge, 
1675. (6 X 7f in.) pp. 188. 

An Englishman in Paris. Notes and Recollections. Two 
vols, in one. New York: D. Appleton & Co. (Town and Country- 
Library) . (12nio) pp. 478. 

The Epicurean. A Complete Treatise of Analytical and 
Practical Studies on the Culinary Art. By Charles Ranhofer, 
Chef of Delmonico's. Illustrated with 800 Plates. New York: 
Charles Ranhofer, 1894. (Large 4to) pp. 1183. 

Raff aid (Elizabeth). The Experienced English House- 
keeper. For the Use and Ease of Ladies, Housekeepers, and 
Cooks, etc. Wrote purely from Practice, etc. The Third Edition. 
London: R. Baldwin, 1773. (8vo) pp. 366. 

The Expert Waitress. A Manual for the Pantry, Kitchen, 
and Dining-room. By Anne Frances Springsteed. New York 
and London: Harper & Bros., 1902. (12mo) pp. 131. 

Pennell (Elizabeth Robins). The Feasts of Autolycus: The 
Diary of a Greedy Woman. London: John Lane. New York: 
The Merriam Co., 1896. (5 x 7 in.) pp. 264. 

Fifty Dinners. By A. Kenney Herbert (" Wyvern"). Lon- 
don and New York: Edward Arnold, 1895. (12mo) pp. 188. 

Food and Feeding. By Sir Henry Thompson, Bart. Tenth 
Edition. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1899- 
(8vo) pp. 312. 

Food Materials and Their Adulterations. By Ellen H. 
Richards. New Edition. Boston: Home Science Publishing 
Co., 1898. (Small 4to) pp. 183. 

Gastronomy as a Fine Art. A Translation of the Physi- 
ologic du Goiit of Brillat-Savarin. By R. E. Anderson, M.A. 
London: Chatto & Windus, 1877. (5^ x 7i in.) pp. xxxvii, 280. 

Dawson (Thos.). The Good Huswiuve's Jewell. In two 
Parts. London, 1596-7. (l6mo.) 

Brugiere (Sarah Van Buren). Good Living. A Practical 
Cookery-book for Town and County. Second Edition. New 
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1890. (8vo) pp. 606. 

J.53 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

A Handbook of Gastronomy. New and Complete Transla- 
tion of Brillat-Savarin's Pliysiologie du Gout. With 52 Original 
Etchings by A. Lalauze; Preface by Charles Monselet. London: 
John C. Nimmo. New York: J. W. Boiiton, 1884. (Tall 8vo) 
pp. 516. 

Blot (Pierre). Hand-book of Practical Cookery. For 
Ladies and Professional Cooks. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 
1888. (5 X 7i in.) pp. 478. 

Health's Improvement; or, Rules Comprising and Dis- 
covering THE Nature, Method and Manner of Preparing 
ALL Sorts of Food used in this Nation. Written by that ever 
Famous Thomas MufFett, Doctor in Physick; Corrected and En- 
larged by Christopher Bennet, Doctor in Physick, and Fellow 
of the Colledge of Physitions in London, 1655. (Small 4to.) 

Larwood (Jacob) and Hotten (John Camden). The His- 
tory of Signboards. Third Edition. London: John Camden 
Hotten, 1866. (5^ x 6^ in.) pp. 536. 

Harrison (Mrs. Sarah). The Housekeeper's Pocket Book, 
and Compleat Family Cook. Containing above Seven Hundred 
Curious and Uncommon Receipts, etc., etc. London: Printed for 
R. Ware, 1751. (12mo) pp. 268. 

Ice-Cream and Cakes. A New Collection of Standard Fresh 
and Original Receipts for Household and Commercial Use, by an 
American. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883. (8vo) 
pp. 384. 

I Go a-Marketing. By Henrietta Sowle ( " Henriette " ) . 
Boston: Little, Brown & Co., IQOO. (8vo) pp. 237. 

Leaves from Our Tuscan Kitchen ; or, How to Cook Vege- 
tables. By Janet Ross. London: J. M. Dent & Co., 1899- 
(12mo) pp. 150. 

Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook-book. What To Do and What 
Not To Do in Cooking. Revised Edition. Boston: Little, 
Brown & Co., 1901. (8vo) pp. 578. 

Farley (John). The London Art of Cookery and House- 
keeper's Complete Assistant. On a New Plan made Plain and 

454 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Easy to every Housekeeper, Cook, and Servant in the Kingdom, 
etc., etc. London: Printed for J. Scatcherd and J. Whitaker, 
1790. (8vo) pp. 459. 

The Majestic Family Cook-book. By Adolph Gallier. 
Containing 1300 Selected Recipes Simplified for the Use of 
Housekeepers. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897- (8vo) 
pp. 419. 

Mrs. a. B. Marshall's Large Cookery Book of Extra 
Recipes. With 284 Illustrations. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 
Hamilton Kent & Co., 1894. Sixth thousand. (Tall 8vo) 
pp. 656. 

Ellwanger (George H.). Meditations on Gout: With a Con- 
sideration of Its Cure Through the Use of Wine. New York: 
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1898. (5 x 6f in.) pp. xvi, 208. 

Memoirs of a Stomach. Written by Himself, That All 
Who Eat May Read. With Notes Critical and Explanatory. 
By a Minister of the Interior. London: W. E. Painter, 1853. 
(5^ X 6f in.) pp. 135. 

Francatelli (Charles Elme). The Modern Cook. A Practi- 
cal Guide to the Culinary Art in All its Branches. Twenty-sixth 
Edition. Philadelphia: David McKay. (Tall 8vo) pp. 592. 

La Chapelle (Vincent). The Modern Cook. By Mr, Vin- 
cent La Chapelle, Chief Cook to the Right Hon. the Earl of 
Chesterfield. London: Printed for the Author, and sold by 
Nicolas Prevost, 1733. 3 vols. (8vo) pp. 328, 31 6, 307. 

Modern Method of Regulating and Forming a Table 
Explained and Displayed. Containing a great Variety of Din- 
ners laid out in the most elegant taste, finely represented on 152 
large copper-plates with descriptions, also 12 elegant dinners 
for different seasons of the year, list of such particulars as are 
in season for the use of Ladies Housekeepers. London, 1750. 
(Folio.) 

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. Receipts Collected by the 
Young Ladies' Society, First Baptist Church, Rochester, N. Y, 
Rochester: Scrantom, Wetmore & Co., 1895. (8vo) pp. 87. 

455 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

A Noble Boke of Cookry (1467). Edited by Mrs. Alexan- 
der Napier. London: Elliot Stock, 1882. 

Hazlitt (W. Carew). Old Cookery Books and Ancient 
Cuisine. London: Elliot Stock, 1886. (4^x6^ in.) pp. 263. 

Walker (Thomas, M^D.). The Original. Fifth Edition. 
(Part II. The Art of Attaining High Health. The Art 
OF Dining.) London: Henry Renshaw, 1875. (6 x 8^ in.) 

Soyer (A.). The Pantropheon ; or. History of Food and 
Its Preparation from the Earliest Ages of the World. 
London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1853. (6^ x 9^ in.) pp. 474. 

Miss Parloa's Kitchen Companion. A Guide for All who 
woidd be Good Housekeepers. By Maria Parloa. Twenty-first 
Edition. Boston: Dana, Estes & Co., 1887. (8vo) pp. 966. 

Marnette (M.). The Perfect Cook. Being the most exact 
Directions for the making of all kind of Pastes, etc., as also the 
Perfect English Cook, or right method of the whole Art of 
Cookery, with the true ordering of French, Spanish, and Italian 
Kickshaws, with A-la-mode Varieties for Persons of Honour. 
London: Printed for Obadiah Blagrave, 1686. (12mo.) 

Philosopher's Banquet (The). Newly furnished and 
decked forth with much variety of many several Dishes, etc. By 
W. B. London, 1633. (12mo.) 

Hill (Janet McKenzie). Practical Cooking and Serving. 
A Compleat Manual of How to Select, Prepare, and Serve Food, 
with many Illustrations. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 
1902. (8vo) pp. xiii, 712. 

Cook (Ann). Professed Cookery. Third Edition. Lon- 
don, 1760. 

The Queen's Closet Opened. Incomparable Secrets in 
Physick, Chyrurgery, Preserving and Canning, etc. London: 
Printed for Obadiah Blagrave, 1679- (12mo) pp. 190. 

Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook-book. A Manual of 
Home Economics. Philadelphia: Arnold & Co. (8vo) pp. 581. 

Round the Table: Notes on Cookery and Plain Recipes. 
With a Selection of Bills of Fare for Every Month. By " The G. 

456 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

C." London: Horace Cox, 1873, 2nd edition. Philadelphia: J. 
B. Lippincott & Co., 1876, reprint. (5 x 7 in.) pp. 303. 

GoufFe (Jules). The Royal Cookery Book (Le Livre de 
Cuisine). Translated and adapted for English use by Alphonse 
Gouffe, Head Pastry-cook to Her Majesty the Queen. Compris- 
ing Domestic and High-class Cookery; l6 full-page coloured 
plates and l6l woodcut illustrations. (Thick royal 8vo) 1883. 

Lamb (Patrick). Royal Cookery; or. The Compleat Court- 
Cook. Containing the choicest Receipts in all the several 
Branches of Cookery, viz., for making of Soops, Bisques, Olios, 
Terrines, Surtouts, Ragoos, Forc'd-meats, Sauces, Pattys, Pies, 
Tarts, Tansies, etc., etc. Second Edition. London: E. Nutt, at 
the Middle Temple Gate, 1716. (8vo) pp. 302. 

Cozzens (Frederic S.). The Sayings of Dr. Bushwhacker 
AND Other Learned Men. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867- 
(51 X 6i in.) pp. 213. 

Mrs. Seely's Cook-book. A Manual of French and Ameri- 
can Cookery, etc., etc. By Mrs. L. Seely. New York and Lon- 
don: The Macmillan Co., 1902. (4to) pp. 432. 

Spon's Household Manual. A Treasury of Domestic 
Receipts and Guide for Home Management. London: E. & F. 
N. Spon. New York: Spon & Chamberlain, 1894. (Tall 8vo) 
pp. 1010. 

The Table. How to Buy Food, How to Cook It, and How to 
Serve It. By Alessandro Filippini. Revised Edition. New 
York: The Merriam Co., 1895. (Large 8vo) pp. 505. 

Three Hundred and Sixty-six Menus and Recipes of the 
Baron Brisse. In French and English. Translated by Mrs. 
Matthew Clark. Sixth Edition. London: Sampson Low, Mars- 
ton, Searle & Rivington, 1888. (8vo) pp. xvi, 400. 

Peck (Harry Thurston). Trimalchio's Dinner. Translated 
from the Original Latin of Petronius Arbiter. New York: Dodd, 
Mead & Co., 1898. (5x7 in.) pp. 202. 

Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books. Harleian MS. 
279 and Harleian MS. 4016. London: The Early English Text 
Society, 1848. (5^ x 8| in.) pp. xix, 151. 

457 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

The White House Cook-book. A Comprehensive Cyclo- 
pedia of Information for the Home, Containing Cooking, Toilet 
and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-giving, Table Etiquette, 
etc. By Hugo Ziemann and Mrs. F. L. Gillette. Chicago: The 
Saalfield Publishing Co., 190O. (Large 4to) pp. 508. 



Almanach de la Salle a Manger redige par des Gourmets 
LiTTERAiRES ET DES Maitres DE BoucHE. Paris: Bureau du 
Journal la Salle a Manger, 1865. (l6mo) pp. 176. 

Almanack de la Table, 1846. Avec la carte gastronomique 
de Paris. Paris, 1845. (32mo) pp. 128. 

Almanack des Chasseurs et des Gourmands. Paris: Au 
Depot de Librairie, Rue des Moulins. s. d. (12mo) pp. 144. 

La Reyniere (Grimod de). Almanack des Gourmands; ou, 
Calendrier Nutritif Servant de Guide dans les Moyens de 
Faire Excellente Chere. Suivi de I'itineraire d'un Gourmand 
dans divers quartiers de Paris, et de quelques varietes morales, 
nutritives, anecdotes gourmandes, etc. Par un vieil amateur. 
Paris: Chez Maradan, 1803, 1804, 1805, I8O6, 1807, 1808; chez 
Joseph Chaumerot, 1810, 1812. (18mo) pp. 247, 282, 342, 336, 
362, 331, 340, 360. 

Raisson (Horace). Almanack Perpetuel des Gourmands. 
Contenant le Code Gourmand. Sixieme edition, et des explications 
et meditations de gastronomic transcendante. Paris, au Palais 
Royal, 1829. (18mo.) 

Almanack perpetuel des pauvres diables pour servir de 
CORRECTIF A l'Almanack DES GouRMANDS. A Paris, chez Ma- 
dame Caillot, 1803. (18mo) pp. 124. 

Gerard (Charles). L'Ancienne Alsace a Table. Etude 

HiSTORIQUE ET ArCKEOLOGIQUE SUR l'AlIMENTATION, LES 
MCEURS ET LES UsAGES EpULAIRES DE l'AnCIENNE PrOVINCE 

d'Alsace. Colmar: Camille Decker, 1862. (8vo) pp. 301. 

458 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Antigastronomie (L') ; ou, L'Homme de Ville Sortant de 
Table. Poeme en IV chants. Manuscrit trouve dans un pate 
et augmente de remarques importantes, avee figure. A Paris, 
chez Hubert et C^^ 1806. (12mo) pp. 215. 

Fulbert-Dumonteil. I/Art de Bien Manger. Fins et joyeux 
croquis gastronomiques, ecrits pour les gourmets. Paris: Nilsson, 
1901. (12mo) pp. 716. 

Colnet. L'Art de Diner en Ville a l'Usage des Gens de 
Lettres. Poeme en IV Chants. Seconde edition revue et cor- 
rigee. Paris: Delaunay, 1810. (12mo) pp. 144. 

Careme (A.). L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise au Dix-Neu- 
viEME SiECLE, ETC., ETC. Paris, I'Auteur, 1833-1835. 3 vols. 
(8vo). 

Mangenville (Feu le chavalier de). L'Art de ne jamais 
Dejeuner chez soi et de Diner tojours chez les Autres. 
Enseigne en huit le9ons, indiquant les diverses recettes pour se 
faire inviter tous les jours, toute I'annee, toute la vie. A Paris, 
a la Librairie Universelle, 1827. (18mo) pp. 140. 

Beauvilliers (A.). L'Art du Cuisinier. Par A. Beauvilliers, 
Ancien Offieier de Monsieur, Comte de Provence. A Paris: 
Chez Pillet Aine, 1824. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. xx, 388, 408. 

Vincard (Pierre). Le Banquet des Sept Gourmands, Roman 
Gastronomique. Paris: Gustave Sandre, 1853. (12mo) pp. 210. 

Vicaire (Georges). Bibliographie Gastronomique. La 
cuisine — La Table — L'Office — Les Aliments — Les Vins — Les 
Cuisiniers et les Cuisinieres — Les Gourmands et les Gastronomes. 
L'Economie domestique — Faceties — Dissertations singulieres. 
Pieces de Theatre, etc., etc., depuis le XV? siecle jusqu'a nos 
jours. Avec des fac-similes. Paris, chez P. Rouquette et Fils, 
Editeurs, 1890. (Large 8vo) pp. xviii, 971. 

Dubarry (Armand). Le Boire et le Manger. Histoire 
Anecdotique des Aliments. Paris: Fume, Jouvet et C^^, 1884. 
(l6mo) pp. 256. 

Souchay (Leon). Le bon Cuisinier Illustre. Paris: Audot, 
1886. (8vo) pp. 780. 

459 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Dumont (Emile). La Bonne Cuisine Francaise, tout ce 
QUI A Rapport a la Table. Manuel-guide de la cuisiniere et de 
la maitresse de maison. Dessins de A. B., graves par Ysabeau. 
Paris: Degorce-Cadot, 1873. (12mo) pp. 674. 

Croizette. La Bonne et Parfaite Cuisiniere Grande et 
Simple Cuisine. Paris: Bernardin-Bechet et fils, 1885. Dix 
septieme edition. (18mo) pp. 283. 

Hachebee. Cent Trente Recettes pour Appreter le 
Lapin. Paris: Librairic Centrale d'Agriculture et de Jardinage, 
1879. (18mo) pp. 176. 

Remy (Jules). Champignons et Truffes. Paris: Librairic 
Agricole de la Maison Rustique, 1861. (18mo) pp. 173. 

Chansonnier (Le Nouveau) de la Table et du Lit. Paris: 
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Jobey (Charles). La Chasse et la Table. Nouveau traite 
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Classiques (Les) de la Table, a l'Usage des Practitiens et 
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Contenance (La) de la Table. Nouvellement imprimee a 
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460 



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463 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

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La Reyniere (Grimod de). Journal des Gourmands et des 
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GoufFe (Jules). Le Livre de Cuisine. Par Jules GoufFe, 
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Cuisine de Menage et la grande Cuisine. Cinquieme edition. 
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Gouffe (Jules). Le Livre de Patisserie. Paris: Hachette et 
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Seignobos (Mme.). Le Livre des Petits Menaces. Ouvrage 
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Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel). Le Livre de Taillevent, 
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revue nouvellement. Lyon: pour Pierre Rigaud, l602. (l6mo.) 

Fournier (Edouard). Livre d'Or des Metiers. Histoire des 
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Najac (Eraile de). Madame est servie. Paris: E. Dentu, 

1874. (18mo) pp. 284. 

Careme (A.). Le Maitre d'Hotel Francais; ou, Paral- 

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Firmin-Didot, 1822. 2 vols. (8vo). 

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THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

Manuel de la Cuisiniere Provenpale. Contenant la Prepa- 
ration et la Conservation des Aliments particuliers a la Provence; 
suivi de la Cuisine bourgeoise. Marseille: ChaufFard, 1858. 
(12mo) pp. 276. 

Manuel (Le) de la Frl\ndise; ou, les Talents de ma Cuisi- 
niere IsABEAu MIS en Lumiere. Contenant I'Art de faire soi- 
meme une excellente Cuisine^ et de manger de bons morceaux sans 
faire trop de depense, etc. Par I'Auteur du petit cuisinier 
econome. A Paris, chez Janet, 1796. (18mo) pp. xxxviii, 264. 

Martin (Alexandre). Manuel de l'Amateur de Melons; 
ou, L'Art de reconnaitre et d'acheter de bons Melons. 
Precede d'une histoire de ce fruit, avec un traite sur sa culture, 
etc. Paris: Aug. Udron, 1827. (18mo) pp. 156. 

Martin (Alexandre). Manuel de l'Amateur des Truffes; 
ou, L'Art d'obtenir des Truffes. Au moyen des plants artifi- 
ciels, dans les pares, bosquets, jardins, etc., etc., precede d'une 
histoire de la truiFe et d'anecdotes gourmandes, et suivi d'un traite 
sur la culture des champignons. Seconde edition. Paris : Leroi ; 
Audin, 1829. (18mo) pp. xii, 143. 

La Reyniere (Grimod de). Manuel des Amphitryons. Con- 
tenant un Traite de la Dissection des Viandes a Table, la Nomen- 
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Elemens de Politesse Gourmande. Ouvrage indispensable a tous 
ceux qui sont jaloux de faire bonne chere, et de la faire faire 
aux autres. Orne d'un grand nombre de planches gravees en 
taille-douce. A Paris, chez Capelle et Renand, 1808. (8vo) 
pp. 384. 

Cardelli (M.). Manuel des Gourmands; ou, l'Art de faire 
les -Honneurs de sa Table. Paris : Librairie Roret. s. d. 
(18mo). 

Courchamps (Maurice Cousin, Comte de). Neo-Physiologie 
du Gout par Ordre Alphabetique; ou, Dictionnaire General 
DE LA Cuisine Francaise Ancienne et Moderne, etc., etc. 
Enrichi de plusieurs menus, prescriptions culinaires, et autres 
opuscules inedits de M. de la Reyniere, auteur de I'Almanach des 
Gourmands; suivi d'une collection generale des menus fran^ais 

466 



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depuis le douzieme siecle. Paris, 1839. (8vo) pp. 635. (Du- 
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Perigord (A. B. de). Nouvel Almanack des Gourmands. 
Paris: Bandouin Freres, 1825. (8vo) pp. xxiv, 224. 

Cardelli (M.). Nouvel Manuel Complex du Cuisinier et de 
la Cuisiniere a l'Usage de la Ville et de la Campagne. 
Nouvelle Edition. Paris: Librairie Roret, 1848. (18mo) 
pp. 472. 

BrifFault (Eugene). Paris a Table. Illustre par Bertall. 
Paris: J. Hetzel, 1846. (8vo) pp. 184. 

Pastissier (Le) Francois. Ou est enseigne la maniere de 
faire toute sorte de Pastisserie, tres-utile a toutes sortes de per- 
sonnes. A Amsterdam, chez Louys et Daniel Elzevier, 1654. 
(l2rao) pp. 252. 

Careme (A.). Le Patissier Pittoresque, etc., etc. Nou- 
velle edition. Paris, au Depot de la Librairie, 1854. (8vo) 
pp. 56. 

Careme (A.). Le Patissier Royal Parisien; ou, Traite 
Elementaire et Pratique de la Patisserie Ancienne et 
Moderne, etc., etc. Paris: J. G. Dentu, 1815. 2 vols. (8vo), 
pp. 482, 447. 

Brisse (Baron). La Petite Cuisine, seme Edition. Paris: 
E. Donnaud, 1875. (18mo) pp. 429. 

Geair (Mile. J.). La Petite Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, avec 
Renseignements Utiles aux Familles. Par Mile. Julie Geair, 
professeur. Paris, impr. Barnagaud, 1889. (l6mo) pp. 738. 

Brillat-Savarin. Physiologie du Gout; ou. Meditations de 
Gastronomie Transcendante. Ouvrage theorique, historique et 
a I'ordre du jour, dedie aux gastronomes parisiens, par un pro- 
fesseur, membre de plusieurs societes litteraires et savantes. 
Paris: A. Sautelet et C^^, 1826. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. 390, 422. 
(First edition of the "Physiologie.") 

Delveau (Alfred). Les Plaisirs de Paris. Guide pratique 
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Promenade Gastronomique dans Paris. Presentant un tab- 
leau fidele, anecdotique et comique des faits et gestes des cuisi- 

467 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 

niers et cuisinieres de tous les etages, ainsi que des traiteurs^ res- 
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231. 

Rouviere. Quelques Conseils sur l'Hygiene du Cuisinier. 
Par F. Rouviere, restaurateur. Bordeaux, irajDr. J. Durand, 
1886. (18mo) pp. 108. 

Chavette (Eugene). Restaurateurs et restaures. Dessins 
par Cham. Paris: A. Le Chevalier, 1867. (l6mo) pp. 126. 

Cauderlier. La Sante par les Aliments. Pour vivre de 
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1882. (8vo) pp. 304. 

Gogue. Les Secrets de la Cuisine Francaise. Par A. 
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Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1856. (12mo) pp. 438. 

Les Soupers de la Cour; ou, L'Art de Travailler Toutes 
Sortes d'Alimens pour servir les Meilleurs Tables, suivant 
LES QuATRE Saisons. A Paris, chez Guillyn, 1755. 4 vols. 
(12mo). 

StafFe (B°°'^^). Traditions Culinaires et l'Art de Man- 
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Bontou. Traite de Cuisine Bourgeoise Bordelaise. Bor- 
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Ferry de la Bellone (De). La Truffe: Etude sur les 
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Chatillon-Plessis. La Vie a Table a la Fin du XIX- Siecle. 
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Franklin (Alfred). La Vie Privee d'Autrefois . . . Les 
Repas. Paris: Plon, Nourrit et C^®, 1887. (18mo) pp. 300. 

468 



INDEX 



INDEX 



" Accomplish'd Cook (The),"Robert May's, 99 
Ahasuerus (King), feast of, 12 
Aigrefeuille (M. d'), as an epicure, 69, 70, 129 
Aldergrove (John), on game, 354 
" Almanach des Gourmands," quoted, 70 ; re- 
ferred to, 73, 112 et seq., 157, 184, 233, 336 ; 

its purpose, 132 ; aphorisms of, 138-139. 

Vide also "G. de la Reyni^re " 
'" Almanach Gourmand (L')," referred to, 225 
" Almanach Gourmand (Le Double),'' quoted, 

258 
Alsace, excellence of its cooks, 149 
" Ancienne Alsace k Table (L')," 148-150 
Angelica, 434 

Anne (Queen), as a gourmande, 102 
" Apician Morsels," a piratical volume, 336 
Apicius, as a cook, 29 ; referred to, 40, 41, 50, 

200 
Apios tuberosa, or ground-nut, 255 
Appetites (great), anecdote of the Vicomte de 

Viel-Castel, 214 ; anecdote of a Swiss guard, 

218; anecdote of a French drummer, 218; 

anecdote of an English chaplain, 288 
Archestratus, his lost poem on gastronomy, 

13 
" Art Culinaire (L)," 121, 347, 408 
" Art de Diner en Ville (L')," 76 
" Art de la Cuisine Franfaise au Dix-neu- 

vi6me Sifecle (L')," 206 
" Art du Cuisinier (L')," 71-72 
Arthus (D^sir6), on old tavern-signs, 68 
" Art of Cookery (The)," Mrs. Glasse's, 107- 

111, 316 
" Art of Cookerv (King's)," quoted, 93, 344 
"Art of Dining (The)," Thos. Walker's, 319; 

Abraham Hay ward's, 331 et seq. 
Arts (the) and their masters, 131 
Athenseus, quoted, 8, 13, 16, 18, 21-23 
Attendance, importance of perfect, 321 
Audubon, on game, 362, 363, 370 
Autumn, glories of, 373 et seq., 398 
■" Avalanche" (the), of Careme, 200 
Azincourt (Albouis), referred to, 130 

Baba, its history and virtues, 434 
Babiroussa (the), anecdote of, 212 
Bakers, the art of the German, 146, 171 
Baking, an ancient form of cooking, 10 
Balzac, quoted, 5, 351 ; referred to, 177 ; as a 

gastronomer, 219 
Banquets, early English, 90, 91 
Bauville (Thc^'odore de), quoted, 227 ; referred 

to, 341, 445 
Baron Brisse, quoted, 32, 180, 344, 371, 405, 
417 ; as a gastronomer, 227-228 ; his splen- 
did gastronomic axiom, 228 
Barraa (Vicomte de), dinner of, 65 
Bary^, referred to, 246 
Basting, importance of, 228 
Baudelaire (Charles), referred to, 445 
Beauvilliers, referred to, 6, 69, 70, 199, 202, 
213, 386. 435 ; quoted, 71, 110, 234, 442 

471 



Bechamel, referred to, 54-55 

Beecher (Rev. Henry Ward), on pies, 436 

Beef, baron of, a royal dish, 92 ; sirloin of, its 

origin, 99 
Beer, quotation in praise of, 145 
Beer-gardens, German, 151 et seq. 
Beers, of Germany, 163-164, 168 
Bellone (Dr. de la), on the truffle, 390, 395 
Benedictine, liqueur of, its history, 283-284 
B^ranger, poem on the restaurant, 140 
Berchoux, referred to, 58, 72, 184 ; his poem 

on gastronomy, 73 et seq., 385 
Bernard (Gentil), referred to, 73 
Bertinazzi (Carlin), referred to, 129 
Beverages, importance of, 4 ; their relation 

to national cookery, 151-152, 163-164 
Bignon, anecdotes of, 342-34S 
Bishop (a) of Burgundy, anecdote of, 304 
Blaze de Bury, on women, 433 
Blot (Pierre), 435 
Boar, the wild, 26, 39, 234, 236, 243, 246-247, 

366 
Boar's-head, carols on the, 91, 93 
Boileau, axiom on punctuality, 269 
Boiling, a primitive method of cooking, 11 
"Boke of Keruynge," quoted, 85-87 
" Boke of Nurture," quoted, 84-85 
Bonaparte, Napoleon, as a gastronomer, 76 
Bonnechose (Cardinal), his famous inot, 284 
Bossuet, his " Oraison Funfebre" referred to, 

232 
Bramble (Mathew), referred to, 324 
Bratwurst-Glocklein, 163 
Breadstuffs, the first, 7 ; used by the early 

English, 83 
Breckenridge (Vice-Pres.), anecdote of, 253- 

255 
Bronte (Charlotte), on the curate's dinner, 

288 
Brouwer (Adrian), referred to, 445 
Browne (Wm.), sonnet on the mushroom, 

400 
Bryant, " Lines to a Waterfowl," 292 
Rubble and Squeak, 278 
Buckland (Frank), referred to, 243 
Buff on, anecdote of, 385 
Bulwer, on the fox, 161 

Ctesar, his prodigal feasts, 44 

Caf(5 {videa-lso "Restaurant,") V^ry, referred 
to, 6. 52, 213, 220, 258; Voisin, referred to, 
52; Hardy, referred to, 52, 69, 220; Riche, 
referred to, 52, 220, 250 ; Vdfour, referred 
to, 213, 258; de Paris, referred to, 214, 219, 
220, 221, 222, 258 ; its great vogue in the 
'40's, 219; Anglais, referred to, 220, 258; 
Philippe, referred to, 258. 

Caligula, referred to, 43 

Cambac(5rfes, as a gastronomer, 69, 205 ; re- 
ferred to, 195 

Camerani (M.), referred to, 129 

Capon (the), as a favourite of the clergy, 306 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 



Caraway-seed, abuse of, in Germany, 169 

Cureme, referred to, 13, 70, 194, 199-207, 211, 
223. 229, 348-349, 350, 385, 408, 443; eulogy 
of, 207 

Carp (the), as a favourite of the clergy, 30C, 
308 

Carver, Vatel's deflnition of a, 60 

Carving, importance of, 87, 138 ; a novel 
monastic nietliod of, 307 

"Castle of Indolence (The)," quoted, 238 

C6pe8. Vide "Mushrooms" 

Charles II, as an epicure, 99 

Chateauroux (Duchfsse de), 63 

ChatiUon-Plessis, gastronomical axiom of, 
265 

Cheese, Martin Schookius' book on, 146; Ger- 
man varieties of, 167 ; its proper place at 
dinner, 263 ; its place and mission at din- 
ner, 440 

Child (Theodore), as a false dietetic mentor, 
417 

Civet of hare, 51 

CIar6, 96 

Claudius, his great dining-room, 43 

Clergy (the), elaborate banquets given by, 
90 ; table excesses of, in old Alsace, 149. 
Vide also individual references 

Climate vs. alimentation, 168, 270, 334 

Clough (Arthnr Hugh), poem on " The Din- 
ner," 336 

" Cobbe's Prophecies," quoted, 80 

Cocktail, physiology of the, 196 

Coffee, remote use of, 9 

Colbert, referred to, 55 

"Conipleat Housewife (The)," Mrs. E. 
Smith's, 98, 106, 109 

"Compleat Practical Cook (The)," Charles 
Carter's, 103 

Compots, 157, 174, 432 

Conde (Prince de). referred to, .54, 58, 60 

Contades (Mar6chal de), referred to, 159 

Cook, Montaigne's reference to a, 51-52; 
Berchoux's reference to a, 74 ; importance 
of a good, 113 ; attributes necessary for a 
good, 203, 207; anecdote of a new, 259; 
anecdote of a, 393 

Cook-book, the ideal, defined, 442-446 

Cook-books, early Italian, 49 ; early Spanish, 
50 ; early French, 52 ; early English, 81 et 
seq., 317 ; 17th-century English, 93 et neq. ; 
old German, 147-148, 150; modern (vide 
specific references), written by the clergy, 
281 

Cookerv, its relation to life and health, 3, 70, 

71, 251, 257-258, 286, 430 ; modern progress 
in, 4 ; vs. matrimony, 6 ; Italian school of, 
6, 49, 51, 195 ; compared to painting, 6, 
203; in Biblical times, 7, 8, 9 ; of the ancient 
Persians, 11, 12 ; of the ancient Greeks, 13 
et seq. ; of the ancient Sicilians, 14 ; of the 
ancient Romans, 24 et seq. ; period of its 
greatest distinction in Rome, 25 ; decline 
of ancient, 48; ys. literature and art, 48; 
the renaissance of, 49 et seq. ; of Spain, 50, 
423; its relation to the mind, 64, 176; vs. 
diplomacy, 70 ; home ('«. the haute-cuisine, 

72, 350, 429 ; cry of its decadence, 79, 258 ; 
Parisian school of, in England, 99 ; of the 
English rural classes, 101, 102; modern Eng- 
lish, 111, 269 et seq.; importance of good 
writers on, 113, 199 ; period of its greatest 
distinction in France, 116; complementary 
to national beverages, 151, 1,53 ; excellence 
of German, 156, 174 ; Careme's and the Mar- 



quis de Cussy's opinion of old Roman, 201; 

of America, 249 et seq. ; of the modern 

French. 2.59 (vide also special references) ; 

its relation to the church, 280 et seq. ; a 

dirticult art, 442. Vide also "Gastronomy" 
Cooking-schools, 251, 260 
Cooks, jealousy of, 14, 202; regulating the 

health of, 136 
" Cook's Oracle (The)," 316 et seq. 
Cordon-bleu, origin of the term, 62 
Cucumber, remote use of, 9 ; its virtues, 425 
Cuisine, the ideal, defined, 258 
Cuisine classique (the), 200 
"Cuisinier Parisien (Le)," quoted, 203 ; re- 

feried to, 206, 349 
Cura^oa sec, as a digestive, 192 
Cure, anecdote of a, 293 
Cussy (Marquis de), referred to, 67, 127, 211, 

213, 225, 305; quoted, 120, 181, 201, 346, 

383, 408 
Cuyp, referred to, 6, 203, 245 

Davis, Lieutenant-Colonel Newnham, 337-339 

DeCandolle, referred to, 256 

Defi'and(Mme. du), on strawberries, 144 

Delavigne (Cassimir), on dinners, 112 

" D^lices de la Campagne (Les)," 59 

Delille (I'Abb^), on gardening, 71 

De Quincey on midday dining, 146 

"De re Culinaria," 29, 41, 50 

D6saugiers, poem on women, 119 

Dessert, its mission defined, 430; etymology 
of the term, 438 

Dickens (Charles), on dining, 329 

Dinner, bonis of, 83 ; a good one, a simple 
one, 116, 320, 322, 324; punctuality at, 126, 
269, 291, 318, 319; a wineless, 127, 263-266, 
294,295; inhuman liours of, 14,5-146,150; 
its true hygienic hour, 146, 268, 269 ; Sava- 
rin's definition of a perfect, 190 ; Careme's 
classic, at the Baron Rotlischild's villa, 
200; Dumas' deflnition of a good, 213; of 
the Vict)nite de Viel-Castel , 214 ; the Sunday 
engorgement. 266; evils of the "theatre" 
267 ; a good, as defined by an eminent Bap- 
tist ecclesiast, 299; by the Ettrick Shepherd, 
309; by Thackeray, 315 ; by Kitchener, 318; 
by the Earl of Dudley, 320 ; French deflni- 
tion of a perfect, 320 ; importance of variety 
in the bill of fare, 329 ; the graceful liar as 
an adjunct to, 331 ; Arthur Hugh Clough's 
poem on the, 336 

Dinners, poor "company," 126, 261, 321, 329; 
ministerial, 195 ; similarity of, 195, 325, 328; 
false etiquette of, 331 

"Dinners and Diners, " 337-339 

Dish, the fust recorded, 7 

Dislies, new, 72, 353, 380; testing of, 135; 
Hungarian, 167 ; abuse of certain, 261 

Dom Gobelot, anecdote of, 310 

Domitian, referred to, 43 

Dom P^rignon, the inventor of champagne^ 
283 

Don Quixote, referred to, 50 

"Double Almanach Gourmand (Le)," referred 
to, 340 

Douw (Gerard), referred to, 197 

Drayton (Michael), quoted, 360 

Dreams, viands provocative of, 197 

Drinking-Cups, of the ancients, 31 

Du Barry (Mnie.), a supper of, 62 

Dubufe. referred to, 234 

Duck, wild, the art of carving a, 87 ; " VMien 
Father carves the " (poem), 87; cauvasback, 

472 



INDEX 



249, 369 ; canvasback, Rev. Joseph Barber's 
poem on, 292 ; wild, 359, 36(3, 369 
Dumas (Alexandre), quoted, 5, 49, Sti, 206, 213, 
214, 224, 225, 383; referred to, 131, 149,211- 
225, 321 ; as a cook, 211 ; as a gastronomer, 
221 ; anecdote of, as a chef, 222, 223 
Dumas fils (Alexandre), referred to, 5 
Duraonteil (Fulbert), his saying about truf- 
fles, 10 

Eating, evils of irregular, 267 
Egyptians, table appointments of, 10 
Elephant, proper sauce to eat one with, 345 
Ely (Rev. Joseph A.), translation of poem on 

the pig, 232 
Emerson, his mot on pies, 437 
Emetics, use of, among the ancients, 15 
English, meals of the early, 82; not apprecia- 
tive of tine cooking, 210, 274 
"Englishman in Paris (An)," quoted, 222 
Epicure, definition of an, 128, 131 
" Epicurean (The),'' referred to, 353 
Epicurus, his maxims, 15 
Evelyn (John), on salads, 411 
Exercise, virtues of, 75, 378 

"Faerie Queene (The)," quoted, 235 

Fairy-rings. Vide "Mushrooms" 

Fayot (M.), qtioted, 1, 5; referred to, 321 

"Feasts of Autolycus (The)," quoted, 343 

Fete chanipetre. Vide " A shooting jaimt" 

Fieldfare, 361 

Fig-pecker (the), 44, 192, 361 

Fish, fondness of the old Latins for, 26 ; days 
in Elizabeth's era, 90, 308; omelettes and 
pat^s of, 149; variety and superiority of 
American, 251 ; its complementary wine, 
309 ; proper cookery of, 368 

Flamingo (the), as a table bird, 44 

Fletcher (John), quoted, 96 

Flint cracker, origin of the, 263 

Fouquet, referred to, 54, 55, 58 

Francatelli, referred to, 6, 106, 199, 208, 226, 
350 

France (Anatole), his mot on the pat^ de 
Chartres, 434 

Frederick the Great, his poem to his cook, 
146 

Frog (the), his first leap into the frying-pan, 
150 

Fruit, after dinner, 267 

Fruits, the first cultivated, 9 ; glass-grown in 
England, 273 ; superiority of those of wes- 
tern New York, 274 

Frying, theory of, 179 

Fuger (Bishop), anecdote of, 310 et seq. 

Game, Savarin's references to, 192, 193, 197 ; 
Anthony Hayward on its cookery, 333 ; 
preservation and protection of, 357-358 ; 
definition of the term, 3.58 ; effect of food 
upon fiavour of, 359-360, 362-363, 370; 
proper wines to accompany, 372 ; species, 
haunts, pursuit, protection, value, and 
cookery of. Vide chapter "The Spoils of 
the Cover " 

Garum, of the ancients, 46 

Gastaldy (Dr.), anecdote of, 120; as an epi- 
cure, 130 

Gastronomer, the ideal, defined, 442-446 

Gastronomic tests, Savarin's illustration of, 
190 

Gastronomy, Archestratus' lost poem on, 13 ; 
Berchoux's poem on, 73-76, 184 ; as defined 



by M. de Borose, 81; as defined by La 
Reyniere, 128; French w. German, 145, 
151, 152 ; finesse of its ethics, 157-158 ; one 
of the most important arts, 176 ; as defined 
by the " Dictionnaire de la Conversation," 
184 ; as defined by Savarin, 184 ; cry of its 
decadence, 194 ; its mainspring the pig, 
229 et seq. ; as promoted by the religious 
orders, 285 et seq., 335; in relation to 
sauces, 345 ; St. Ange's disquisition on, 
378-381 ; in relation to sport, 3.54, 356, 445. 
Vide also " Cookery," " Dinners," and in- 
dividual references 

Gavarni, his mot on the mushroom, 407 

Gemiithlichkeit, of the Germans, 153, 174 

Gilrard (Charles), referred to, 148-150 

Gerarde, quoted, 256, 400, 411 

Gibson (W. Hamilton), 406, 407 

Glacer k la fiamme, 203 

Glatigny (Albert), quoted, 63, 341 

Gluttony, as defined by woman, 343 

Goethe, referred to, 147, 430; poem on game, 
169 

Goldsmith (Oliver), quoted, 108 

Gonthier (Johann), referred to, 52 

Good-will, a si)ortsnian's waste of, 381 

Goose (the), merits of, in Germany, 156; in 
Strassburg and Alsace, 159-161 ; and apple- 
sauce, 244 

" Goret (La Mort du)," poem, 232 

QowiU (Jules), referred to, 199, 225-226, 227, 
229, 445 

Gourmand, La Reynifere's definition of a, 127- 
128 

Gourmandise, as defined by Savarin, 186; 
vs. l)eauty, 187 ; Gerard (Charles), quoted, 
199 

Gout, 143, 270, 346, 444 ; prevalence of, among 
the ancients, 46; prevalence of in Eng- 
land, 96, 102 ; vs. pat^ de foie gras, 162 

Grace before meat, 291, 297 

Graces, the three spirituous, 196 

" Grad' aus dem Wirthshaus," German con- 
vivial song, 173 

"Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine," 211 et seq. 

Greeks, meals of the ancient, 19 ; gluttony of 
the ancient, 23 

Greeley (Horace), anecdote of, 239 

Grog, origin of the word, 97 

Grouse, ruffed, 35(i, 3.59, 364, 366, 370, 375, 
376, 411; pinnated, or prame-chicken, 363, 
365 

Hafiz, quoted, 423 

Hagenmark, 432 

Hamerton, referred to, 243 

" Hare, first catch your," origin of the term, 
110 

Harvest-home, poem on the celebration of, 
101 

Hasenbraten and Hasenpfeffer, 168 

Hayward (Abraham), referred to, 331 et seq. 

Haywaid (Anthony), on a chaplain's appe- 
tite, 288 

Heidelberg, a dinner at the Wolfsbrunnen, 
152 

Heliogabalus, gluttony of his reign, 46-48; 
inventor of vol-au-vent k la flnanci&re, 48 

Henry VIII, his fondness for sweets, 430 

Herodotus, quoted, 10 

Herrick, (|uoted, 79, 102 

Herring, the " marinirte,'' 167 

Hertford (Lord), anecdote of, 333 

Hervilly (Ernest d), referred to, 233 



473 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 



Hippocras, 57, 93, 94, 96 

Hirztag, a strange custom of that festival, 
160 

Hollar, quoted, 358 

Homer, quoted, 20 

Hone (Wm.), poem on mince-pie, 435 

Hood (Thomas), referred to, 316 

Horace, quoted, 11, 26, 39, 40, 113,398 ; re- 
ferred to, 38, 39 ; his fondness for sweets, 
428-429 

Host, a delicate, as defined by La Reynifere, 
139; vs. guest. Baron Brisse's aphorism on, 
228; his duty to his guests, 264-265, 330- 
331 

Housewife, troubles of the, 260 

Hugo (Victor), referred to, 341 

Hunt (Leigh), on pig-driving, 239 

Ice-cream, discoverer of, 434 

Indian summer, poem on, 373 

Indigestion, La Reyniere on the causes of, 

133 
Ingoldsby (Thomas), referred to, 289; 

quoted, 280, 291, 306, 438 

Jacque (Charles), referred to, 233, 245 
Janin (Jules), referred to, 5, 211, 213, 348, 445 
Jefferies (Richard), on feastiug the chapel- 
pastor, 287 
Johnson (Dr.), quoted. 111, 248 
Jordaens, referred to, 6 
Jury d^gustateur (the), 120 et seq. 
Juvenal, referred to, 34, 37, 40 ; quoted, 37, 
42 

" Kalendare de Potages dyuers," 88, 90 
Kempis (Thomas a), his fondness for sal- 
mon, 309 
King (Wm.), poem on cookery, 279 
Kitchener (Dr. Wm.), referred to, 106 
Kuchen, merits of the German, 169, 174 
" Kuchenmeisterey," 171 

La Bruyfere, quoted, 229, 380 

Lacroix (Octave), his triljute to Dumas, 211 

La Fontaine, referred to, 116 

Laguipifere, referred to, 6, 201, 202 

Lamb (Charles), referred to, 17, 239, 240-242, 

430 ; his apology to the pig, 240 
Lampridius, quoted, 47 
Larding (art of), its discoverer, 281 
La Reynifere ((jrimod de), refeiTed to, 66, 
72, 112 et seq., 178, 196, 213, 225, 317, 336, 
361, 443 ; poem of, 117 ; quoted, 118, 233, 
236, 287, 345, 348, 383, 411; his home 
kitchen, 131, 132 ; as a gastronomer, 132 ; 
denounced by Savarin, 158 ; his tril)ute to 
Savarin, 177. Vide also " rAlmanach des 
Gourmands " 
La Rochefoucauld, quoted, 5 
Leckerbissen and Frauenessen, 172 
Lennox (Lady), anecdote of, 335 
Liar, charm of the accomplished, 331 
Liqueurs (celebrated), of monastic invention, 

283-285 
"Livre de Cuisine (Le)," 225 
Locust (the), as an article of diet, 7 
Louis XIII, as a gastronomer, 53 ; XIV, as 
a gastronomer, 64 et seq. ; XV, as a gas- 
tronomer, 61 ; XVIII, as a gastronomer, 
76, 78 
Lucullus, as an epicure, 41-43 ; referred to, 
45, 200, 201 



Luncheon, an ideal woodland, 375 et seq. 
Lyne (Bishop de), referred to, 149 

Macaroni, Dr. Gastaldy on, 120 

Macaroni, Rossini's lost recipe for, 220 

Madeleine (the), Dumas' story of, 169 

Maecenas, referred to, 38, 39 

Magee (Bishop), anecdote of, 394 

Mahony (Rev. Francis), poem on pat^ de 
foie gras, 161; his " VVatergrasshill Carou- 
sal,' 309 

Maintenon (Mme. de), referred to, 57, 63, 340 

Maitre d'hotel, duties and importance of the, 
136-138, 204 

"Maitre d'Hdtel Fran?ais (Le)," 206 

"Manuel des Amphitryoiis," quoted, 69; re- 
ferred to, 93-95 

Markham (Gervaise), referred to, 93-95; 
quoted, 409 

Marriage, Balzac's definition of, 351 

Martial, quoted, 24, 31, 33, 44 ; referred to, 
37, 38, 40 

Marvell (Andrew), referred to, 81, 252 

Mauri (Cardinal), his fondness for "Est, Est, 
Est, " 311 

Mead, its composition, 97 

Medici (Catherine de), 52, 433 

Melons, 9, 273, 298 

"Memoirs of a Stomach," quoted, 271 

" Memorials of Gormandizing," 329 

Metheglin, 96, 98, 439 

Metzelsuppe, tlhland's poem on, 1C6 

Mdzeray (Mile.), referred to, 117-119, 125, 126 

Mind vs. stomach, 5 

Mistletoe-thrush, 361 

"Modern Cook (The),"f208 

Mohrenkeller, of Niirnberg, 163 

Molifere, referred to, 57, 58, 113 

Monselet (Charles), quoted, 175, 194, 206, 264; 
referred to, 211, 22.5, 232, 340 

Montaigne, quoted, 6, 51, 200, 376, 414 ; re- 
ferred to, 147, 283 

Montauron (Seigneur de), 54 

Montausier (Due de), 54, 55 

Montespan (Mme. de), 58, 63 

Montgomery (James), poem on the daisy, 424 

Morellet (l'Abb<>), anecdote of, 304 

Morgan (Lady), referred to, 62; quoted, 200 

Mouchy (Marechal de), anecdote of, 64 

Moynier (M. M.), referred to, 394, 396 

Miiller (Wilhelni), poem of, quoted, 311 

Mullet, a much-valued fish, 32, 47; origin of 
the name, 33 

Murger (Henri), referred to, 341 

Mushrooms, 362; specie.s, qualities, history, 
haunts, literature, and cookery of, 397- 
408 

Musset (Alfred de), quoted, 219 

Mutton, Pr6-Sal6 and Southdown, 359, 380 

Napoleon I, as a gastronomer, 61 

Nasidienus, the feast of, 39, 40 

Nero, his Domus mirea, 43 

Ninon de I'Enclos, referred to, 175, 178, 200 

North (Christopher), 309, 316 

"NouvelAlmanach des Gourmands," quoted, 

220 
Nudels, 167 

Oaks, list of truffle-producing, 391 

Oil and vinegar, 415-416 

" Old Cookery Books," quoted, 275 

Olive-oil, remote use of, 8 

Olla podrida, 50 ; en grande, 50 



474 



INDEX 



Omelette (the curb's), anecdote of, 299-302 

Onderdonk (Bishop), anecdote of, 295 

Onion, an ancient vegetable, 9; tribe, virtues 
of the, 106, 107, 231, 387 

" Original (The)," 319 et seq. 

Orsay (Comte d'), on French cookery, 258 

Ortolans, 76, 361 

Ostade, referred to, 74, 445 

Oudry, referred to, 234 

Ovens, Carenie's remarks on, 202 

Oyster-beds, first artificial, 27 

Oysters, ancient modes of cooking, 89 ; supe- 
riority of American, 252 

Pain perdu, 89 

Painting, Italian school of, 6, 48, 245 ; Dutch 
and Flemish schools of, 6, 246, 445 ; French 
school of, 246 

" Panthropeon, or History of Food (The)," 
17, 209 

Papabotte (the), 362-363 

Parkinson (John), 81, 411 

Parsley, virtues of, 106, 231 

Pastry, La Reynifere's definitions of, 138; 
Careme's definition of, 202 

Pftte de foie gras, 7, 130, 156, 158, 161, 162, 
189, 235, 236, 397 ; La Reyniere's account of 
a, 123 ; its history, 159 ; d'^crevisses, 203 ; 
de Chavtres, 434 

" Patissier frangais (Le)," 59 

Pennell (Elizabeth Robins), quoted, 107, 342 

Pensey (Henrioude), his famous gastronomic 
axiom, 252 

Pepper, superiority of adulterated, 417 

Pepys (Diary of), quoted, 99-101 

Perdrix h I'espagnol, 50 

Perfumes, use of, at feasts, 13, 28 

PetitRadel (M.), anecdote of, 77 

"Petite Cuisine (La)," 227 

Petrarch, on wine, 293 

Petronius Arbitei', referred to, 35, 37 

Pheasant (the), 289, 359 

Philippe d'Orl^ans, as a gastronomer, 61 

" Philosopher's Banquet (The)," quoted, 106 

Physicians, as gastronomers, 78, 267 

" Physiologic duGoOt (La)," referred to and 
quoted, 175 et seq., 206, 351, 395. Vide also 
" Savarin" 

Pie (pumpkin), its origin, 273 ; a game, 372 

Pies, 249, 430 et seq. ; wild-boar, 89 ; strange 
early English, 95 

Pig (the), his popularity as a sign-board, 67 ; 
of Westphalia and Rothenburg, 164 ; as a 
factor of gastronomy, 229 et iseq.; "Dis- 
sertation sur le Cochon," 231 ; "GliElogi 
del Porco," 231 ; M. Pouvoisin's eulogy of, 
232 ; Rev. Joseph A. Ely's eulogy of, 232; 
Monselet's eulogy of, 232; .Southey's eulogy 
of, 232 ; La Reynifere's eulogies of, 233, 
236; Ernest d'Hervilly's sonnet to, 233; 
Spenser's and Thomson's unjust strictures 
on, 235, 238 ; the Southern razorback, 235, 
306 ; fondness for truffles, 236, 389 ; Leigh 
Hunt's essay on, 239 ; Charles Lamb's apol- 
ogy to the elder animal, 240 ; as a retriever 
of game, 244 ; a German eulogy of, 244 ; 
his influence upon the polite arts, 245-246; 
" R6ti-Cochon," 261, 414 

" Pig-Driving, On the Graces and Anxieties 
of," 239 

Planked shad, origin of, 253 et seq. 

Pliny, quoted, 31 ; referred to, 40, 384, 395 

Plover, upland or grass, 361 et seq. 

Plum-porridge, 435 

475 




Plum-pudding, and history of, 334, 434-435 

Pompadour (Marquise de), 63 

Pope, quoted, 83, 103 

Pork, the favourite dish of the ancients, 1 

origin of, 230 
Pork-pie, 89 

Porridge, use of, by the ancients, 24 
Potato, history of the, 255-256, 306 
Potatoes, in England, 272, 330 
Pot-au-feu, importance of the, 224 
Propertius, quoted, 38 
Prout (Father). Vide Rev. Fraiici! 
" Psalm, a penitential," 286 
Puff-balls. Fide " Mushrooms " 
Punch, origin of the word, 97 
Punctuality. Vide " Dinner, punctuality at " 
Pumpkin, an ancient vegetable, 9 

Quail, 363, 365, 366, 375, 382 

Recipes 
A Blue-violet Salad ("The Story of My 

House"), 426 
"A Bride's Pie" (Mrs. Glasse), 110 
A good brown gravy (Mrs. Glasse), 109 
A liver-pudding boiled (Mrs. Glasse), 109 
Bakewell pudding, 276 
Bouillon, Dumas' mode of preparing, 224 
Brook trout (Savarin), 179; (Baron Brisse's 

formulas), 180 
Cabbage, Apicius' recipes for, 29 
Cfepes (Vuillemot's recipe for), 405 
Chicken, Artimidor's recipe for, 
Cock-ale, Markham's formula for, 98 
" Dish of Roses" (the), Laurentius' recipe 

for, 18 
Flounder-souchy (Kitchener), 327 
Gigot de mouton k la Richelieu (St. Ange), 

380 
Guisado, tlie Spanish, 51 
How to collar a pig (Mrs. Smith), 109 
How to roast a pig (Mrs. Glasse), 110 
Kalter Aufschnitt, 169 
Mutton Cutlets (Mrs. Walter Ellis), 276 
Partridge aux choux (Baion Brisse), 371 
Pheasant k la Sainte-Alliance (Savarin), 

193 
Potage aux choux (Dumas), 224 
Quail k la financifere (Goufl^), 226 
Roast goose d Vallemande, 157 
Sack-posset (Sir Fleetwood Fletcher), 439 
Sauce for venison, mutton, and game (Fran- 
catelli), 208; for green geese and duck- 
lings, 278 ; k la Schdnberg (Her Gracious 
Serenity), 352 
Spare-rib (Charles Lamb's new formula), 

242 
"The Cur(5's Omelette" (Savarin), 302 
The hunter's sandwich, 441 

Ranhofer (Charles), referred to, 353 

R^caraier(Mme.), referred to, 300 

Reed-birds, 359, 361 

Rembrandt, referred'to, 6 

Restaurants, first Parisian, 64, 66 ; excessive 
charges of Parisian, 140, 220. 342 ; Bignon, 
referred to, 219 ; American, 250 ; advantage 
of dining at, 339; Glatignv's sonnet on, 
341; Bigiion's, 341-343; Trois Fr6res Pro- 
vencjeaux, referred to. 2.'>8; a dinner at, in 
1860, 297 ; English, 270, 275, 338. Vide also 
"Caft's," and specific references 

Retz (Cardinal de), referred to, 171 

Rdveilld-Parise (Dr.), referred to, 339 



THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 



ilichelieu (Cardinal de),64,302,380; (Mardchal, 

Due de), 303, 348 
Riquette, referred to, 202 
Ristori (Mnie.), referred to, 220 
Koasting, as defined by the Marouis de Cussy, 

120 
Robert, referred to, 6, 69, 194, 201, 202 
Rocher dc Caucale (restaurant of), .52, 115, 

117, 118, 187, 221 ; a celebrated menu of, 

140-142 
Rohan (Cardinal), referred to, 150 
Romans, luxury of the ancient, 25 et geq. ; 

meals of the ancient, 27 
Ronsard, referred to, 52; quoted, 79 
Roques (Joseph), 408 
Rossini, as a gastronomer, 219 
" Koyal Cookery" (Patrick Lamb's), 102 
Rubens, referred to, 6, 245 
Ruffs and reeves, 335 
Ruysdael, referred to, 6 

Sack-posset, 96 

St. Ange, gastronomic homily of, 378-382 

Ste. Beuve, quoted, 381 

Saint-Simon, quoted, 55 

Salati, 362 ; virtues of, as defined by Savarin, 
301, 411 ; virtues of, as defined by La Rey- 
nifere, 411 ; its mission and place at the 
dinner, 418 

Salails, remote use of, 10 

Salmis, La Reynifere's lost monastic recipe 
for, 286 

Sandpiper (Bartramian). Vide " Plover " aid 
"Papabotte" 

Sanzai (Archbishop), anecdote of, 304 

Sardanapalus, as a gastronomer, 12 

Sauce, a good, as defined l)y Baron Brisse, 
334 ; a good, as defined l)y La Reynifere, 
345; ancliovy, 345; (a good), its qualifica- 
tions, 349 

Sauce tartare, a novel, 256 

Sauces, old English, 84 ; best for brook 
trout, 191; (Francatelli's), for mutton and 
game, 209, 368 ; (English), 277 ; merits of, 
249, 345; Harvey's, origin and anecdote 
of, 277 ; bread, 289, 368 ; their relation to 
gastronomy, 345; Marquis de Cussy on, 
346; mayonnaise, its history and etymol- 
ogy, 348-349, 421 ; h la Schonberg, 352 ; a 
list of, for the home cuisine, 352 ; apple, 
368 ; h la Richelieu, 381 

Saucier (the), 346 

Sauerkraut, 371; when invented. 150; 
(French), not to be commended, 223 

Sausages, the German the master-maker of, 
152, 423 ; German species and varieties of, 
163-166 

Savarin, referred to, 75, 113, 114, 225, 305, 
351, 370, 434, 443 ; denounced by M. de 
Courchamps, 158; as a gastronomer, 181, 
206 ; his discourtesy to La Reyni^re, 195 ; 
poem of, 197 ; quoted, .300-302, 383, 384, 395, 
411. Vide also "Physiologie du Goflt (La) " 

Scott (Sir Walter), referred to, 309 

Seasonings, used by the ancients, 28-30 ; 
used by the English, 83, 108; importance 
of, 446 

Seneca, quoted, 5, 31, 32, 41, 46 ; referred to, 
40, 44 

Sdvignd (Marquis de), referred to, 175, 200 

Shakespeare, quoted, 246, 441 

Shelley, referred to, 234 

Shooting jaunt a, 375 et seq. 



Shuttleworth (Canon), his famous "grace," 

291 
Signboards (old), and their mottoes, 67 
Smell (the), its influence on the taste, 182 
Smith (Rev. Sydney), his mot on pat6 de 

foie gras, 1.58; gastronomic anecdote of, 

249 ; his mot on the pheasant, 286 ; his 

poem on roast mutton, 290 ; on fanatics, 

294 ; his poem on salad, 412 
Sneydcrs, referred to, 6, 234, 445 
Snipe, 3.56, 3.59, 365, 366, 411 
Socidtd des Mercredis, 118, 129, 130 
Solomon, his table, 11 
Sora, or rail (the), 360 

Soubise (Prince de), anecdote of his chef, 37 
Soup, bisque d'dcrevisses, 1.50; aux choux, 

224; croilte-au-pot, 224, 275; Julienne, 

281 ; first mention of, 281 
"Soupers de la Cour (Les)," 62 
Soups, German, 167 
Southey, referred to, 232 
Soyer, referred to, 17, 106, 199, 209-210 
Spartan black broth, 13 
Spatzle, 167 

Speaking-tube, invented by La Reyniere, 126 
Speisekarte, a typical, 154 
Spenser, quoted, 235 ; referred to, 238 
Sport. Vide chapter "The Spoils of the 

Cover " 
Stimulants, before dinner, 196 
Stomach (the), its joys and sorrows, 5; its 

offices, 267, 317, 319 
Strawberries vs. gout, 143, 432 
(Rev. Dr.), anecdote of, 296- 

299 
Sweetmeats, 379 
Sweet potato, 256 
Sydney (Sir Robert), anecdote..of, 89 

Tal)les volantes, 62 

Talleyrand (Prince de), as a gastronomer, 69, 
202 

Talon (Joseph), discoverer of truffle culture, 
388 

Taste (the), Savarin 's analysis of, 181-184; 
influence of smell on, 182 

Teniers, referred to, 6, 445 

Tennyson, referred to, 316 

Thackeray, referred to, 159, 195, 387 ; as a 
gastronomer, 315, 329 ; quoted, 327, 340 

Thomson, quoted, 238 

Thoreau, on the mushroom, 402, 403 

Tiberius, death from poisoned mushrooms, 
43 ; as an epicure, 44 ; his fondness for cu- 
cumbers, 425 

Timon (Bishop), of Buffalo, anecdote of, 293 

Toast, a celebrated French, to femininity, 283 

Toasts, form of, among the ancients, 27 

Tobacco, introduction of, 28 

Total abstainer, anecdote of a, 265 ; absti- 
nence, poem on, 295 

Total abstainers vs. guests, 263-266 ; brandied 
peaches, 433 

Trimalchio, dinner of, 35 

Trout, broi ik, best sauce for, 181 ; of the 
English chalk streams, 364; American vs. 
the European, 365 

"Truffe(De la)," 394 

"Truffe (La)," 390 

Truffles, 143, 159, 210, 235, 434 ; species, quali- 
ties, history, cultivation, cookery, litera- 
ture, and phenomena of. Vide chapter 
"Two Esculents par excellence " 



476' 



INDEX 



Turbot (the), 33 

Turkey, a truffled, 122, 304, 385; history of 

the, 304, 305; wild, 369-370; wild vs. the 

domestic, 369, 370 
Turtle feasts, American, 267 

Ude, referred to, 6, 106, 199, 207 
Uhland, referred to, 163, 166 
Ulric (St.), festival of, 308 
Urbain-Dubois, referred to, 199, 226 

Van Mieris, referred to, 197 

Vatel, referred to, 6, 54, 58, 130 ; on carving, 59 

Vegetables, used by the ancients, 9, 10, 28, 
29 ; poor cookery of, in Great Britain, 272; 
importance of good, 330 

Verneuil (G. de), referred to, 130 

V^ron (Dr.), anecdote of, 221 ; on the res- 
taurant, 339 

Verres, referred to, 43 

Viel-Castel (Vicomte de), anecdote of, 214 

Vienna roll (the), origin of, 171 

Vincent La Chiipelle, 61 

Vineyards (celebrated), first founded by the 
ecclesiasts, 282 

Virgil, referred to, 234 

Vitellius, referred to, 43, 44 

Vol-au-vent k la flnancifere, 203 ; inventor of, 48 

Vopalli^re (Marquis de), referred to, 71 

Vuillemot, referred to, 212, 213 

Walker (Thos.), 106, 195, 319 et seq.; as a 

gastronomer, 326 
Walton (Isaac), referred to, 81 
Ward (Artenius), his mot on hasty pudding, 

134; his mot on pies, 437 
Weenix, referred to, 234, 445 
Wheat, original home of, 9 
Wheatears, 335, 361 
White (Gilbert), referred to, 243, 272 ; quoted, 

360 



Whitebait, as eulogized by Thackeray, 328, 
387 

Whiteflsh (the), 45 

Wines, of the ancients, 13, 17, 30, 40 ; of the 
ancient Romans, 30 ; in use in England, 
90-98; difficulty of testing, 135; German, 
168 ; of old Alsace, 159 ; brut champagne, 
262, 431; importance of good, 262, 264, 
265 ; champagne, 262, 270, 323, 337, 438 ; 
champagne, its virtues, 283, 379 ; their rela- 
tion to the clergy, 282, 291, 293, 295, 309 et 
seq.; "Est, Est, Est," history of, 310 e? seq.; 
importance of a sufficient variety, 322-323 ; 
their relation to game, 356, 372 ; to truffles 
and mushrooms, 394, 408 ; Chateau Yquem, 
crfinie, of 1861 and 1864, 427 ; as a medium 
of hygiene, 444 

Woman, jealousy of, 14 ; imitating man's ex- 
cesses, 46 ; Talleyrand's precept regarding, 
79; compared to peaches, 119; as gastron- 
omers, 125, 343, 351 ; La Reynifere's distinc- 
tion of, as guests, 139 ; created for the 
selfish wishes of man, 174 ; her fondness for 
sweetmeats, 174, 429, 430, 433; Savarin's 
references to, 192 ; as an addition to a 
shooting-party, 192-193, 378 ; a French toast 
to, 283; as an adjunct to the dinner, 320; 
disadvantages of dining with, 338, 340 ; 
in the eighteenth century, 347; how she may 
hypnotise the sterner sex, 350, 429 ; a toast 
in sparkling St. Pdray to her, 351 ; Balzac's 
reference to, 351 ; the wise one defined, 
351 ; vs. champagne, 379. 429 ; compared to 
mushrooms, 398 ; pretty one should mix a 
salad, 420; her relation to cookery, 429; 
a foil for man's mistakes, 431 ; as a gar- 
nish to an omelette, 432 ; her pet tipples 
in colonial times, 438, 439 

Woodcock, 355, 359, 365, 366, 376 

Wordsworth, referred to, 240 

Yellowshank (the), 361 
Yuan Mei, quoted, 6 



477 



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